Stranger Than Fiction
by Ghostface211
Summary: Ichigo/Tatsuki AU. A story about how Bleach might have been had Ichigo and a certain childhood friend had been a little closer before Rukia shows up...
1. Strawberries, Tomboys, and Shinigami

**_Bleach is created by Tite Kubo and distributed by Weekly Shonen Jump, Shueisha, Studio Pierrot, TV Tokyo, Adult Swim, & Viz Media LLC._**

_Should Kubo, or any of his affiliates, request it, this not-for-profit story will be taken off line as quickly as possible. _

_Any original characters, however, are owned by me. If you steal them, I shall hunt you down and skewer your nuts. _

_Feedback is encouraged. That's why I write. Also for the cookies. And The Root Beer. The sweet, nectar-of-the-gods root beer. _

_Flames are pointless, as the author is a flaming retard. _

_...hold up, that's not what I meant. Uh, let's just start the story. _

* * *

_**Ghostface211 presents**_

_A Bleach Story _

_**Stranger Than Fiction**_

_Chapter One: Strawberries, Tomboys, and Shinigami_

_Comments, Constructive Criticism, and MST 3000's can go to _

* * *

_7:00 P.M. Saturday. Karakura Town_

_**BAM!**_

The hard sound of one young skateboarding punk hitting the pavement rang out though the streets as the person who smacked the punk down ran a slender hand through her short, spiky black hair. Her companion, a tall orange-haired boy looked on with slight disinterest.

"The fuck's your problem, bitch?!" the skateboarding punk asked the teenaged youth before him. "You suicidal or somethin? You come here, kick Lil'Yama in the face and order us out like some skank ass hoes?! You know who you fuckin' with bitch?!" The boy glared and began to walk towards the punk as he continued to rain down insults and vulgarities. The punk stopped mid-rant and charged at the orange-haired youth. "Alright you bitch moth-"

_**POW!**_

A boot to the face was the only response offered to the foul mouth punk. As the boy began to kick the downed punk, his friends looked at the duo that had downed their leaders with fear and awe.

"No way! He dropped Lil'Toshi!"

"This is so wrong, dude."

"Those two are hard man. **HARD."**

"Dude. Fuck with them and they'll kill you!"

"**SHUT UP!** All you losers look at that," cried the orange haired boy. Pointing down at something behind him, the skaters looked to see a cracked glass bottle laying on the ground with flowers inside. "First question! What's that? You," he pointed at a random punk, "Pothead. You tell me!!"

"Me?" Asked the punk in question. "Pothead?" He asked more to himself. Speaking up, he answered the boy. "Ummm... an offering to some dead kid?"

**BAM!**

"Check out the brain on the toker!" cried the girl as she leveled said punk with a roundhouse kick.

"Lil' Mitch!!"

"NOOOOO!"

"My turn," started the girl. "My question is...why's that vase...lying on it's side?"

Slowly a figure began to form behind the girl as the boy walked to her side. The punks slowly turned to answer the girl's question, trembling slightly. "Itint 'cuz...," One punk began.

"We knocked it over with our... skate...boards?" The other punk finished. The reason he had problems finishing his comrade's statement is because the figure that was behind the school kids had finally finished forming into a small girl. No older than 10, her hair done in pigtails. Nothing terribly unusual.

Save the fact that she was floating above the ground.

And that she was bleeding profusely from her head, covering one eye.

Oh, and that she was as pale as a ghost.

To say nothing of the hole in her chest with a chain sticking out of it.

"Well then," began the boy as a maniacal look crossed his face. "**Maybe you should apologize to her, huh?!**"

A pause. Then the punks paled and hugged each other.

_**"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"**_

"We're sorry!"

"We'll never do it again!"

"Don't steal my soul, bro!"

"Momma!!"

As the punks ran off, taking their unconscious brothers with them. The duo looked towards each other. "Well, they won't be back," the girl stated.

"Think you enjoyed yourself a bit to much there Tatsuki," the boy smirked at his companion.

Tatsuki stuck her tongue out at him. "Sorry, Ichigo. Next time I'll save some for you." She turned to the ghostly girl, "Hey, sorry for using you like that."

The dead girl shook her head. "That's okay, I asked you two to get rid of 'em for me. It's the least I could do. Now I can spend my time peacefully."

"We'll bring you some fresh flowers tomorrow," Ichigo stated. "So you get to heaven already, okay?" Having done his good deed for the day, Ichigo turned and waved behind him as the young apparition faded away. Tatsuki smiled and ran off to catch up to the orange-haired boy.

"So that's it? One good deed for the dead and you're scowling again?"

"I'm not scowling," Ichigo huffed, scowling.

"Or is that a grin? Sometimes with you I can't tell the difference," Tatsuki hummed, amused at Ichigo's demeanor. "Poor, poor fightin' boy. He sees ghosts, can talk to 'em, touch 'em, and even channel 'em. Must be a pain to be in such high demand."

"It doesn't happen that often."

Tatsuki raised an eyebrow in feigned interest and turned away, "Ah, is that so? Am I overrating your popularity?"

Ichigo stopped, turned and faced her. "Eh? You jealous or somethin'?"

Tatsuki turned back to Ichigo, a small grin appearing on her face, "What if I am?"

Ichigo grinned back at her. "Oh, I dunno... Maybe I'll just have to do something to fix that."

Tatsuki came closer to him, "Interesting. How are you gonna do that?"

"Maybe I'll try something like this", he finished as he closed the gap between them. When he bent his head down, Tatsuki looked up at him and smiled, closing her eyes...

She suddenly felt a presence, Opening her eyes again she sighed. "Don't look now Ichigo, but you got company."

"Yeah, I know," he grumbled, left eye twitching.

"Don't mind me, youngster," Reassured the sprit. An older man that looked like he had died in his late 50's. "It's like I'm not even here."

"Beat it. **Now**. Please."

Tatsuki let off another disappointed sigh and she hefted her schoolbag over her shoulder. The mood was pretty much ruined now. "Later Ichigo, I'll let you and your new friend get acquainted."

Ichigo glared at the older sprit for a moment. "Ah, Tatsuki. Hold up. We're still on for tomorrow, right?"

Tatsuki mimicked Ichigo and waved behind her in a mock disinterested fashion, "Yea, of course. No special guests though, right?"

Ichigo scoffed at that as the sprit floated down near him. "Hmm. How Disappointing. Can't perform under pressure?"

"Shut up."

* * *

_And here comes fun time at the insane asylum_, Ichigo thought to himself as he unlocked the door to his home. Idly, he wondered how his father would handle him being late this time. "I'm home," he announced.

"**NO NOOKIE KICK!**"

_**CRACK!**_

Ichigo went down like a ton of bricks as his father leveled him upside his head with a powerful kick. Satisfied, Isshin stood tall over his son.

"Do you have any idea what time is you sexual miscreant?" Isshin asked, "Or where you too busy knocking the boots with your girlfriend to remember that dinner in this house is always at seven o'clock sharp?!'

"Goddamn it old man, Tatsuki and I weren't doing anything except helping a ghost find peace! And besides, what father makes his son come home by seven o'clock on a school night anyway? Your rules are way too strict!" Ichigo yelled, leveling a glare at his father. "And for god's sake who the hell says 'knocking the boots' when talking about sex anyway?"

"Don't try to distract me with your 'gifts', boy," Isshin glared back, "It was bad enough when you where rubbing them in my face before. But now your girlfriend can see ghosts when before she was as blind as me! Why can't I see ghosts, huh? Why don't I have the gift? What she got that I don't?! What's wrong with me, huh?!"

"You want the full list?" Ichigo asked sarcastically. "Besides, how the heck should I know how Tatsuki can see ghost now?!"

"Probably because you're giving her _'special injections'_!"

Ichigo flustered for a moment before cold cocking his father, "**GO TO HELL, OLD MAN!**"

Isshin responded in kind with a fist to his son's stomach, "**THAT'S THE SPRIT, KID!**"

"Both of you, please stop fighting! Dinner's getting cold," cried Yuzu.

Sadly, this seemed to have no effect upon the father and son who's fight seemed to shift between UFC, Wrestlemania, and Virtua Fighter.

"Just let 'em get it out of their system, Yuzu," Karen said. Clearly more interested in her empty bowl than the latest, greatest battle between father and son. "Can I have some more rice?"

"Karin-chan!"

Finally the battle was decided. As Isshin went for a clothesline, Ichigo avoided it and landed a powerful haymaker, sending Isshin into the wall. Satisfied that his father was done, Ichigo huffed and climbed up the stairs to his room.

"Ah, Ichi-nii! Your dinner..." Started Yuzu.

"Not hungry!" shouted Ichigo. Yuzu flinched as he slammed his room door closed.

"God! Why does pops have to be so weird?" Ichigo huffed as he flopped unto his bed. Putting a hand over his face, he let out a deep breath of air, "Stupid old man." Frowning, Ichigo removed his hand from his face. It wouldn't do to get mad at the old fart now anyway. He was too old to change anyway.

Looking over to his dresser near the bed, he picked up a picture of Tatsuki and him last summer. Shortly after they had started dating. His arm was draped over her shoulder and he had an incredibly rare smile upon his face. Tatsuki's hand grasped his arm draped over her and had a similar grin on her face. Tracing his finger over the picture, Ichigo ruminated on how such simple things could become so complex.

It seemed like yesterday that he and Tatsuki where in that dojo. Him training, hoping to be strong enough to protect his mother and sisters and live up to his name. Tatsuki was just some girl who never acted like a girl for some odd reason. To him she was his best friend and greatest rival, as she was the pillar he had to overcome to be strong enough to protect his family.

Then his mother died, and everything changed. And then came middle school and...

"Ah geez, look at me," Ichigo huffed placing the picture back on top the dresser. "Reminiscing like and old man or something."

That being said, he sat down near at his desk, and began to get to work on his homework.. Tomorrow he would be out all day with Tatsuki, celebrating the anniversary of their first date. So he let his thoughts about her idle in the back of his mind while he started his English assignment.

* * *

_10:00 A.M. Sunday. Karakura Town_

Ichigo rang the doorbell, letting off a sigh. He was pissed at himself for forgetting his gift for Tatsuki. And despite her tomboy ways, she was still girl enough that such things were important to her. And that meant if he forgot to give it to her by the time they went back to his place for dinner, an ass kicking was in his near future.

He was jostled out of his thoughts as the door opened and a slender woman was revealed. With long brown wavy hair that flowed down to her waist, violet eyes, a fair complexion, and a small mouth with full lips that curled into a smile. "Ah, Ichigo-chan! How nice to see you!"

Ichigo gave a light smile at the woman, "Hello Arisawa-san. Is Tatsuki ready to go yet?"

Mrs. Arisawa shook her head, "Not just yet. Come in, please come in."

Ichigo did just that. Idly taking off his shoes, he looked around a bit at the living room area, "Is she gonna be ready soon? The movie starts in a bit."

Mrs. Arisawa smiled at Ichigo, "I'm sure she'll be ready any minute. Why don't you watch some T.V. in the meantime."

Even though there was nothing on T.V., Ichigo decided to humor his girlfriend's mother by sitting on the couch and turning the T.V. on. Idly flicking through channels before a newscast caught his eye.

_-'Once again, reporting from the scene here at Katakura station. Where service is stopped for the day as you can see, due to what appears to be a terrorist attack. Several witness claim that at midnight, there was a large explosion that caused severe structural damage to the building. No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, but officials say...'-_

Ichigo frowned. _That's not to far from my own place he thought to himself._ So wrapped up in the newscast, he failed to notice the figure behind him.

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

Ichigo tensed a bit at the voice and turned to look behind him. It was a man that seemed more mountain than anything human. Standing at 6'2"with a well-defined and thickly muscular build, long black spiky hair that went to his mid back, square glasses, a tan complexion and goatee, He loomed over Ichigo and gave off a vibe that might make a lesser teenage boy crap their pants.

Ichigo simply smiled warily at the man, "Uh, hi Arisawa-san."

Mr. Arisawa glared down at the young man, "Today is the day, Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Today is the day... for what?" Ichigo asked, although he was pretty sure what was about to come.

Mr. Arisawa flexed, ripping his shirt to shreds in the process. "**TODAY IS THE DAY WE FINALLY BATTLE, KUROSAKI ICHIGOOOOO!**"

Ichigo sighed, if it wasn't one nut case father it was another. Mr. Arisawa and he had never really gotten along. And ever since he had started dating Tatsuki, he had started trying to challenge him, as if he would never accept him unless they actually did fight. "No, Arisawa-san. For the 10,000th time, we're not."

Mr. Arisawa smirked, "So, you continue to show yourself as a coward to the end."

Ichigo frowned as Mr. Arisawa continued to smirk at him, he knew the man was needling him, waiting for him to bite. "I really don't think either of us has time for a fight anyway Mr. Arisawa."

"Nonsense," Mr. Arisawa stated, his smirk growing to an infuriating level. "Now is no better time for me smack you skinny little bleached ass down."

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched, never had he imagined that he'd have to keep his nerve to punch a person so much like his own father. "Seriously, Mr. Arisawa. You know that no matter what you do, I'm not gonna fight you. Especially in your own house."

"That's fine, That's why we have a back yard."

Ichigo palmed his face into his hand, "I'm not gonna fight you inside or outside your own house. So stop this. Please."

Mr. Arisawa suddenly frowned, as if in deep thought. "I know that you're a crybaby, but I never would have though you'd be this much of a coward," Suddenly, his face lit up as if coming to a grand revelation, "Or Is it...? Can It be...?"

Ichigo was almost afraid to ask," Can what be?"

"Can it be that..." Mr. Arisawa suddenly struck a pose, "**YOU'RE PARALIZED WITH FEAR BY MY BEAUTIFULL BODY?!**"

If it was possible, Ichigo's jaw would have dropped to the basement at that statement. "**WHAT?!**"

"**BEHOLD THIS MAGNIFICENT BODY!**" Mr. Arisawa said, striking a strong man pose. "**A BODY THAT HAS TAKEN FOURTY-SEVEN YEARS TO HONE TO PERFECTION! THIS IS THE TYPE OF BODY A MAN WHO DATES MY DAUGHTER SHOULD HAVE TO PROTECT HER!**"

"Shuya."

Shuya Arisawa gulped and slowly turned behind him to find his wife giving him a glare that could have given a glacier chills," How many times have I told you to stop bothering Ichigo-chan?"

Shuya instantly deflated, turning to his wife looking like a toddler about to have a temper tantrum, "_But Tomo-chaaaannn!_ That little punk hasn't proven himself worthy of my Tat-chan!"

Tomoko Arisawa let of a sigh at this tired song and dance routine, "I think at her age, Tatsuki is more than able to choose who is and isn't worthy of being her boyfriend."

Shuya suddenly straightened up, pointing a finger at Ichigo. "**BUT WHY THAT LITTLE PENCIL-NECKED CRYBABY?! I JUST CAN'T ACCEPT IT UNTIL HE PROVES HIMSELF TO ME IN MAN TO MAN COMBAT!**"

"Dad, stop that!" cried Tatsuki.

Shuya flinched at his newly arrived daughter's tone. He turned to face her, tears streaming down his face, looking like his family was stabbing him in the back by supporting Ichigo instead of him. "_B-b-b-but Tat-chaaaannn!_ Daddy was only looking out for you!"

"Well you can stop looking out for me old man," Tatsuki frowned. Folding her arms and giving her father a glare that equaled her mother's for intensity, "Stop bugging my boyfriend for a fight."

Shuya looked like he was about to tell his daughter just who was the parent when Tomoyo cut him off, "Yes, I must insist you do as your daughter says otherwise..."

Shuya paled, "No... you wouldn't...You couldn't!"

"I could and I will. If you don't at least try to be civil towards Ichigo-chan, I'm cutting you off."

"You can't cut me off! How would I get through the day without my fix?!"

"Well if you apologize to Ichigo-chan, I won't cut off your cookie supply."

Shuya convulsed, wracked in agony over what was more valuable to him. Suddenly, he stood straight and turned around to face Ichigo. Ichigo jumped back a bit, stunned at the pain in his face.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," Shuya growled out, "I am sorry for trying to goad you into proving you aren't a crybaby who is full of chicken shit."

Tomoyo stomped her foot, causing Shuya to jump, "**THAT'S IT! YOU GO SIT IN THE CORNER AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE DONE! NO COOKIES FOR YOU!**"

Shuya pouted and proceeded to do sit in said corner. "Why does she have to side with that stupid little crybaby anyway?" He mumbled.

Tatsuki then turned to her boyfriend and gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry about that, Ichigo."

Ichigo waived it off, "It's Ok. I'm just ready to go. **Now.**"

Tomoyo frowned at her daughter, "Just a moment." Looking her over, her daughter wearing a white dress shirt over a blue baby tee with a decal of a grinning smiley face, skinny blue jeans, and sneakers. "Oh, Tatsuki-chan. Pants? What's wrong with that cute little skirt I gave you?"

Tatsuki blushed," I just wanted to wear pants, today momma. Besides, I wear a skirt to school every day."

Tomoyo sighed and put her hand on her face, "But I even got a pair of matching panties."

Ichigo blushed as Tatsuki's face tuned a deeper shade of crimson. Grabbing her boyfriend's hand, she dragged him to the door, "Goodbye, mother!"

As Ichigo was dragged out the house, he idly wondered what normal parents where like.

* * *

"Remind me to never pick you up at your house again."

Tatsuki smiled, as they had been walking long enough that she could regain her composure. "Like your dad is any better."

Ichigo shrugged, "No, but at least I can hit him."

"Well, I'd fight him for you, but that would just make him right in his eyes." She shuddered, "Him being right about anything in regards to you is just... **WRONG.**"

Ichigo couldn't disagree with that. "Well, now that that's over with are you...?"

Suddenly a deep blood-curling yell echoed through the sky. The reverberations sent chills up the young man's spine, and felt like it was stabbing his soul. It was one of the worst sounds he had ever heard in his life.

He turned a worried look to Tatsuki, "Did you hear that?"

Tatsuki nodded in the affirmative, and held Ichigo's hand tighter. Her eyes darted around, looking for what ever caused that sound as well as if anyone else noticed. Seeing that no one had reacted to the sound, she turned to her boyfriend. "Well, whatever caused that definitely wasn't human."

Ichigo frowned. What the hell could cause a sprit to scream like that, he wondered. Suddenly, he heard the scream again. This time however, there was a definite reaction as windows shattered, sending glass fragments down to the ground and more importantly, the people on the ground.

Predictably, people stopped what they were doing, and attempted to avoid the falling shrapnel. As that was happening, deep rents suddenly appeared in a building near Ichigo, sending plaster and cement to fall upon the masses, creating a panic amongst the people as dirt, rock, and rubble surrounded them.

"What the hell is happening?" Tatsuki asked.

"I dunno," Ichigo stated. He then pulled on Tatsuki's hand and started to run, "But we're not sticking around to find out."

The pair ran off into the crowd, running from whatever it was that was causing the random destruction. As they ran, Ichigo turned to look behind him. Then his eyes caught hold of a sight that would be burned into his mind for a long time.

It looked like a cross between a mime and a praying mantis. It's eyes where pupil less, but Ichigo felt as if that thing was looking directly at him. An unfamiliar fear rushed through his body as their eyes met, as if he was prey that was being hunted. And it was only a matter of time before he was caught.

"_FoUnd YoU..._" the thing said.

Ichigo's eyes widened in panic and his pace quickened in response. Tatsuki's grip on his hand was loosening, "Ichigo, what...!"

He re-tightened his grip, "Don't look back!"

Curiosity got the better of the girl, and she proceeded to ignore her boyfriend's request. "What the hell is that thing?!"

"Didn't I tell you not to look back?!" Ichigo shouted.

"Don't you know by now not to tell me to do something like that?!" Tatsuki shouted back.

They avoided a falling chunk of wall, "Are we about to argue about this?! Now, of all times?!"

"Oh, shut up and run!!"

Suddenly, a black flash appeared in front of the couple. It disappeared and Ichigo turned to look behind him again, and saw the monster pause in it's charge towards the pair before letting off a scream even louder than the first one. Suddenly, a deep line appeared in it's center and it dissolved into nothingness.

As the crowd began to settle down after it was clear the destruction had ended, Ichigo continued to stare at the area where the monster had vanished into nothingness. A single though continued to circulate in his head.

What the hell had just happened?

* * *

"Ichigo."

Ichigo frowned in thought as he and Tatsuki left the theater. What the hell was that monster that had chased them and those sprits earlier?

"Ichigo."

It had to be what caused the damage to Katakura Station that he saw on the news. Question was why was it here in the first place? And why was it hunting that sprit? Was it some sort of sprit eater? And how the heck did it disappear?

"Ichigo!"

Ichigo flinched as the hand that was held by Tatsuki was squoze painfully. Turning towards his girlfriend, he let off an apologetic look. "Sorry. What is it?"

"'Bout time. I've been trying to get your attention for a while now. Honestly, what where you thinking about, anyway?"

Ichigo frowned. "Nothing."

Tatsuki smirked, "Liar."

"It's nothing, really. At least I hope so."

"Ichigo, I saw that monster too, remember. It's gone now, so why are you still worrying about it?"

Ichigo stopped walking and looked around to make sure that no one was paying attention to their conversation. "That's just the thing. You know I've been able to see ghosts for a long time. But I've never seen something as fugly as that thing was ever. It's probably what tore up the station last night too."

Tatsuki nodded. She had heard something about that on the news this morning before Ichigo had picked her up. "So what? What does this mean?"

Ichigo frowned, "I dunno... and that's what worries me."

* * *

"I'm home." Ichigo announced

**"NO BABY BOMBER!"**

Ichigo put his forearms up and blocked the attempted clothesline, glaring at his father. "Dammit, what is your freakin' problem old man?!"

"Not bad my son," Isshin complimented. "But you're still open!"

Ichigo yelped as he was tripped. Rolling the moment he hit the ground, he barely avoided his fathers downward chop.

"And what about you?" Asked Tatsuki as she leveled a kick towards Isshin's stomach.

Isshin suddenly bent forward, shocking Tatsuki with his speed. He stayed hunched over, his waist bent all the way forward and his hands stretched out to keep his balance. Tatsuki's foot was no more than an inch away from his stomach. Isshin roared, "You and your striped panties are one hundred years too early to get the best of me!"

Tatsuki flustered, wondering how he had correctly guessed what her panties where, "You damn dirty goat beard!" Surprising herself with her speed, she dropped a fist at Isshin's unguarded back,**"DIRTY OLD MAN BASH!"**

Isshin crashed into the floor, causing a hole to be formed around his stomach where he landed. "**OooohHHHHH!!** How dare you hit an old man in his back!! It's proof positive that you need to cheat to have any sort of victory! Oh my son! What a wife you have chosen for yourself!", Isshin wailed into the floor.

Ichigo palmed his face in his hand. He was really sick of dealing with crazy people for the day., "Damnit old man, stop saying she's my wife!"

"And I'm not a cheater," Tatsuki huffed folding her arms "You're just not at fast as you like to think you are!"

Isshin suddenly popped up, arms akimbo. The bones snapping into place caused both Ichigo and Tatsuki to wince at the sound. "As my son, it is I who knows you best! So I knew from the moment you brought her home she was the one! And from that day forth I knew I would have to stay on my toes and look out for her cheating ways!" Both glared at him before noticing that he hadn't moved an inch from his stand up position.

"That took everything you had left, didn't it pops?"

"Close enough," Isshin conceded.

Ichigo sighed and poked his father with his finger. Isshin, in turn, grimaced in pain and fell over. "Well, that should keep you quiet for the night."

From the floor, they could hear him painfully whisper. "I...will rise... again!"

Tatsuki sighed, "Yeah, you do that y'dirty ol' man."

"But...I will...do it...the...right...way...cheater..."

Ichigo tuned his father out after that, "Yo Tatsuki, I gotta get something I left upstairs. Keep an eye on zombie-man over here ok?"

"No problem," she responded while cracking her knuckles.

Isshin gulped, "You..wouldn't hit...an old man...while he's..."

Tatsuki cracked her neck, "Save your breath old man," letting off a feral grin, "You might need to scream."

Isshin's face contorted in fear, "Ichigo! I leave you and your sisters behind! Beware the cheater! **MASAKI! I'M COMMIN' TO JOIN YA BABY!!"**

Ichigo let out an exasperated breath and continued upstairs.

* * *

Back in his room, Ichigo shook his head in annoyance. "Man, does pops have to encourage her like that?" Sighing again, he opened his desk and pulled out a pair of tickets to a K-1 show next month. He figured Tatsuki would get a kick out of the show, seeing that it was a martial artist competition and all.

As Ichigo looked down upon the tickets, he suddenly felt a presence. "Not again," he muttered under his breath. Although he had to admit to himself that this sprit was unlike any other he had encountered. Seemed to be setting a trend today.

The sprit was female and was short, that much he could tell. If they where standing side by side, she would barely come up to his elbow. That wasn't the most remarkable thing about this sprit, however. She was dressed in a dark hakama and carrying a sword that had to be as tall as she was. Her eyes where cold and calculating, surveying his room, as if looking for something and knowing she was very close.

She stepped off his desk, methodically and calmly. Walking towards his door, "It's close!"

"What's close, exactly?" Ichigo asked.

The sprit paused and turned slowly to Ichigo, a look of awe gracing her face. "You... you can **SEE** me?!"

Ichigo sighed, yet another sprit not aware that they where dead, "Look, I got no time for this now, so please Mrs. samurai ghost lady, kindly get the hell outta my room before my girlfriend shows up, eh? Last thing I need right now is another sprit killing the mood."

Before the sprit could respond, a knock at Ichigo's door interrupted. "Ichigo?"

"Oh shit! Sorry, but you gotta go, samurai ghost girl!"

That said, Ichigo grabbed the sprit by the hakama and...

Proceeded to throw the girl out the window.

**"WHAT THE HELLLLLLLLLL?!"** The sprit cried as she was rudely tossed out the house.

Sighing in relief, Ichigo opened the door to see his girlfriend standing there, a slightly confused look adorning her face, "Ichigo, what was that?"

"What was what?"

Tatsuki looked at her boyfriend oddly , before shaking off his response. Lightly smiling up at Ichigo, she grabbed his hand, "Well, Yuzu-chan sent me up here to get you for dinner."

Ichigo smiled back down at her, "Did she now?" He started to play with her fingers, "Are you gonna make sure I don't hide up here all evening?"

"Yep, though I think they'll be upset if we both end up hiding here."

Ichigo's grin grew wider, "I got something for you."

Tatsuki blinked, not expecting that. "Really?"

"What, you think I forgot what today was?"

Tatsuki's grin widened, "You jerk! Why'd you make me wait so long, eh?"

'Whoa. Not expecting that.' "Well, um, sorry about that, I didn't mean to".

"Easy there, big guy. I'm not gonna bite this time." She came closer to him, "So what you get me?"

Ichigo grinned. "Close your eyes and hold out your hand"

She proceeded to do so. Ichigo went back to his desk and pulled out the tickets. Placing them in her hands, he grinned confidently, "Ok, go ahead and open them."

Tatsuki opened her eyes and stared into her hands. She began to tremble as a huge smile broke across her face, "K-1 tickets? But how...?"

"I have my ways", he smiled back.

Tatsuki then pulled Ichigo's head down and proceeded to give him a deep kiss. Shocked, Ichigo could only respond by leaning into her, wrapping his arms around her. After a moment, they released each other. Ichigo blankly staring forward. Tatsuki smiled at Ichigo's dazed look, " You are the best boyfriend ever."

Ichigo barely heard her. "A...ah heh..." was all he got out.

Tatsuki smirked, "Well when your mind gets back online, make sure you clean up, Ok?" Standing on her toes, she kissed Ichigo's cheek and proceeded to go downstairs.

"Y..yeah...". Finally snapping out of it he played back the last few minutes. After confirming what had happened his face gave a smile that would outdo his father's on his best day.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice snapped him out of his daze, "What the hell was that for?"

Ichigo turned around and saw the sprit he had tossed out earlier, "Oh, you're back."

"How did you do that!?" she demanded.

"Do what exactly?"

"How is it you can see me?! For that matter grab me?!"

"Oh that," Ichigo shrugged. "I dunno, I just can."

But that should be impossible for a normal human!" The sprit cried.

"I ain't exactly normal", replied Ichigo, pinkie finger rubbing his ear.

A vein popped on the sprit's head, "I suppose not."

Ichigo then frowned at the sprit, "Besides, what makes you so special?"

"Special"?

Ichigo shrugged, before flicking whatever he had cleaned off his ear into the sprit's face. Another vein popped on her head, "Well, whatever little Mrs. samurai sprit. I've got dinner to worry about so if you could just go on and go do whatever you sprits do when I'm not around I'd be more than happy to deal with you tomorrow." That said, he pushed the sprit upon the back of her head and towards his window," Later."

As he turned towards his room's door, he missed a third vein pop up on the sprit's head, "You've got some real nerve there boy." Her jaw clenched, and she pointed her index and middle finger upwards towards Ichigo's backside, "Bakudou #1! **SAI!**"

Ichigo froze as his arms moved behind his back as if they had a life of their own suddenly and painfully. He fell to the floor of his room, his back arched out and his head on the floor, "Freakin' OWWWWW! What the hell did you do to me you crazy sprit?!"

The sprit smirked and planted a foot on on Ichigo's back, "Oh, I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you?" She asked in a mocking tone. "It's just a simple Kido. A high level spell only shinigami can use."

"Why you dirty little... Let me go!" Ichigo cried in fustration.

She grounded her toe into his back, " I should kill a disrespectful fool like you, but the law forbids unauthorized executions. I will let you off with a case of minor paralysis this time."

Ichigo continued to struggle, "Goddamn wannabe samurai... If I could get my hands free, I'd show you some disrespect."

"Now then," The shinigami unseathed her sword. Quickly turning her hilt she struck something behind Ichigo's head.

"What the...?" Craining his neck, Ichigo turned and spotted the young sprit he and Tatsuki had helped out yesterday. "What did you just do?"

"No... no, I can't go yet!" The sprit cried.

"Do not worry little one, what awaits you is the Soul Society. A peaceful place," The shinigami sheathed her blade and a soothing white light surrounded the young ghost as she sank into it. Soon the light faded and a Black Swallowtail Butterfly appeard where the girl was, quickly flying out the room.

Ichigo looked at the shinigami, confusion and shock etched on his face. "Who... who the hell are you? And what did you just do?"

The shinigami looked down upon Ichigo's face with a calm look, her composure regained. "My name is Kuchiki Rukia, young man. And what I just did was perform Konso. It's what you would call 'Passing on' in your language. That's one of the duties of a shinigami." She reached into her hakama, pulling out a pen and paper. "I shall explain things so that even a brat like you can understand."

Ichigo frowned. This was gonna be a long night.

* * *

The Prey was near, that much it could tell.

Soon, the feast would begin.

* * *

"So let me see if I got this right. The ghosts I've been seeing most of my life you call wholes and you perform that konso business to send them to this Soul Society place. And you also hunt these bad sprits you call hollows and vaporise them so they can't eat souls. Am I getting you right?"

Rukia nodded in the affrimative.

"Ok. Two questions," Ichigo started, frowning. "One, Why are you bothering telling me all this when you could be out there hollow killing? And two, why do your drawings suck so much ass?"

A vein poped on Rukia's head as she calmly walked up to Ichigo," Therein lies the problem." She paused and bent down to Ichigo's face, pulling out her pen. "I haven't been able to sense it's presence for some time now."

"Hey! What the hell are you drawing on me, you little jerk?!" Ichigo resumed his struggles in a futile attempt to stop Rukia from drawing on his face, "Stop taking advantage of my helplessness, you damn midget!"

Suddenly a deep blood-curling yell echoed through the house. Ichigo shuttered as he remembered hearing the same kind of yell earlier in the day. "Oy! Chibi-gami!"

Another vein popped on Rukia's head at the insult," What?! What's wrong now?!"

"What's wrong?!" Ichigo screamed, "Didn't you hear that howl?! Are you deaf or something?!"

Rukia's irritation gave way to confusion. "Howl? Then that means..."

She was interrupted by a second deep blood-curling yell that she clearly heard this time. Surprise filled her eyes as she turned to the direction the howl came from and back to Ichigo. How could this one have heard it before I could even sense it, she thought.

A sudden crash, and a young female yell broke her question. Ichigo's eyes suddenly filled with worry, "That was Yuzu!" Suddenly Rukia broke into a run towards his door. "Hey!! Are you going after that hollow?!"

"Yes, I'm going to kill it! Stay here!"

"No way!," Ichigo growled. "That monster's attacking my family! My girlfriend! Let me go, **NOW!**"

"Do you have a death wish, boy?!" Rukia shouted, " There's nothing you can do except lem me do my job and vaporise that thing! If I let you go, all I'll be doing is adding to the body count! **STAY HERE!**"

Rukia then opened the door to a sight that stopped Ichigo's heart. Yuzu was crawling towards him, bleeding from her forehead. "Oh good... you're still... fine... oniichan."

Pain was obvious on Ichigo's face, "Yuzu..."

"...I don't know how it all happend, but daddy's back exploded... and then Tatsuki-neechan... told me and Karin-chan to go find you... to warn you... to tell you to... run..."

Rukia checked on Yuzu's prone form. A small smile graced her face, "It's ok, she just fainted." She turned back to Ichigo, and frowned as he struggled to break free once more, " How many times do I have to tell you to stop? There's no way you'll..."

_**"GRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"**_

_**SNAP!**_

Shock and awe marred Rukia's features as Ichigo broke the kido and ran past her downstairs. She quickly regaind her composure, "Stop!"

Ichigo ignored her and grabbed a bat nearby as he rushed downstairs. His body pulsed with adrenalin as his eyes caught glimpse of his father hunched over, blood pooling at his abdomin. A cold sweat pored down his brow as he forced himself to run past hisfather into the living room area.

He was greeted with a familar sight. Like the monster earlier that day, it was a mixture of things that didn't belong. It was a mix between fish and a human. It's eyes where pupil less as it turned in his direction.

"So... you're a hollow,eh?" Ichigo asked trying to build up some confidence. The arm holding the bat began to shake and tremble, and he forced himself to swallow the bile forming in his mouth. 'Stop shaking, damnit! Stop shaking!', he thought to himself angerly, as the hollow slowly made it's way towards him. 'It's just another goddamn ghost! I'm not gonna be gaught by surprise by a thing like that again!'

His gaze turnd towards the hollow's hand and his heart dropped. In it's hand it held Tatsuki cradling Karin's unconsious form. "**TATSUKI! KARIN!**"

Tatsuki turned to Ichigo, and he could see a deep cut over her left eye, forcing it closed. "Ichigo... get out of here... please..."

Ichigo ignored his girlfriend's plea. Letting out a battle cry, he charged at the hollow prepared to save his family. The hollow backhanded Ichigo away, sending him crashing into the wall near his house. Ichigo growned in pain as he tried to regain his bearings.

His eyes widen as the hollow suddenly appeard before him, raising his free hand to strike him again. Before it could, however Rukia suddenly appeard and gave a deep cut into the arm holding Tatsuki and Karin. It's grip upon the two girls loosened, and Ichigo allowed adrenilin to surge him foward and catch them. "Tatsuki! Karin! Are you two ok?!"

Tatsuki gave Ichigo a pained smirk, "She's fine. Just... passed out... you hardheaded idiot..."

Ichigo gave her a relived smile, "Yeah, hardheaded to the core. Now you leave it up to me, ok?" He then turned to Rukia, "Hey, Chibi-gami! You said that hollows attack people to eat their souls! So why's this thing attackin' us?!"

He couldn't see Rukia's face as she placed herself between him and the hollow, but he imagined he wouldnt' like it. "Hollows are drawn to levels of high reiatsu. I have never known of a human like you, who can see a shinigami, break free of a kid, or so full of reiatsu. I belive..."

"...That he was after me, right?" Ichigo finished, his vioce full of anguish, "My pops is dying, my sisters are unconsious, and my girlfriend's bleeding... all because of me?"

"Wait..that's not what I..." Rukia never finished her statement as the hollow attempted to smash her into the pavement. Rukia dodged the blow, but the hollow showed a suprising burst of speed and lunged at Rukia. She barely got her blade in front of her as the hollow took a huge bite out of her. She chocked off a scream as the hollow released it's bite, the blade cutting into it's gums.

"**CHIBI-GAMI!**" Ichigo cried, as the hollow let off a pained cry of it's own. Rukia slumped to the pavement, her life blood pooling around her. "Are you alright?"

"No," Rukia stated. "I am hurt to badly to help you and your loved ones... It's only a matter... of time... before it eats us all..."

Ichigo pounded his fist into the pavement out of helpless fustration, "Goddamnit!! We... we can't die like this! Isn't there anything you can do?"

Rukia frowned, before crawling towards the wall Ichigo had found himself implanted in moments earlier. Getting into a sitting position, she pointed her sword at the young man before her, "Well... there is one way... to save us all. And **ONLY** one way."

"Spare me the drama and tell me!" Ichigo growled.

Rukia nodded, "If you allow your self to be pierced by my zampakuto, I can infuse half of my reiatsu into you and temporarily gain the power of a shinigami. With that, you can stand a chance against the hollow."

"But if you're wrong, we're dead anyway right?" Ichigo frowned. Rukia's eyes closed and her jaw set. Ichigo closed his eyes. His thoughts turned back to Yuzu, bleeding and crawling for him. Her eyes filled with far and worry for him, and her only thoughts where for his safety.

His eyes opened and he turned his gaze towards Tatsuki, still holding Karin. She had passed out as well, and had protected his sister like she was her own, her only thoughts as the hollow attacked them was his safety. For his life t continue.

He turned back to Rukia, eyes blazing with determination. "We're not gonna die here, chibi-gami. Let's do this damn thing!"

"My name's not chibi-gami. It's Kuchiki Rukia," Rukia gave off a small smile up at Ichigo, "You know... I never even got your name, boy."

Ichigo let off a small chuckle, "It's Ichigo. Kurosaki Ichigo. Nice to meet you."

That said, Ichigo inhaled a deep breath, let off a silent prayer...

And proceed to push himself forward, impaling himself upon Rukia's zampakuto.

And the world exploded into a blinding white light.

* * *

_**End Chapter One**_

_Author's Notes:_

Yeah, if you couldn't tell before this is clearly an alternate universe. To be honest, I wrote this after I read an idea of someone's on The Fanfiction Forum and the thought just wouldn't leave me alone. So here it is, my attempt an Ichigo/Tatsuki pairing story. I'll be getting into the spefics of how Ichigo and Tatsuki even got together in the first place pretty soon, so if you're worried about that don't.

Special Thanks to Windwave for pre-reading this and helping me out with some scenes. As always, the pleasure was all yours.

Now if you'll excuse me, Smash Bros. is calling me. See ya next time...


	2. The Sky Is Mine

**_

* * *

_**

Bleach is created by Tite Kubo and distributed by Weekly Shonen Jump, Shueisha, Studio Pierrot, TV Tokyo, Adult Swim, & Viz Media LLC.

_Should Kubo, or any of his affiliates, request it, this not-for-profit story will be taken off line as quickly as possible._

_Any original characters, however, are owned by me. If you steal them, I shall hunt you down and skewer your nuts._

_Feedback is encouraged. That's why I write. Also for the cookies. And The Root Beer. The sweet, nectar-of-the-gods root beer._

_Flames are pointless, as the author is a flaming retard._

_...hold up, that's not what I meant. Uh, let's just start the story._

* * *

"Ichigo, It Hurts."

Ichigo turned to face the voice and jumped back in shock. Tatsuki stood before him, head bleeding from a massive head wound and her shirt torn revealing a deep laceration over her right breast. The eye that Ichigo could see that wasn't covered with blood was filled with disappointment and sadness.

"Why didn't you run when I told you to?"

Ichigo turned to face Yuzu, who was bleeding from her forehead as well. She reached out to him, "Now look at us!"

"Ichigo! How could you have failed me after I entrusted your sister's safety from the cheater?!"

Ichigo twitched in annoyance as he turned to face his father. His shirt was ripped open and blood flowed freely from his wound in his abdomen. "I thought that when you got that chibi-gami's power's you'd save us!"

"Speaking of her... **HEY CHIBI-GAMI!! WHAT HAPPENED**?!

-"**GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD--**"-

Chibi-gami appeared behind him, "This one's most humblest apologies," Chibi-gami said, saluting him. "But you where too late!"

-"**MOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRNING--**"-

Ichigo's jaw went slack, "Too late? Then... then I did this for nothing?"

-"**IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICHIGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!**"-

**BAM!**

* * *

**_Ghostface211 presents_**

_A Bleach Story_

**_Stranger Than Fiction_**

_Chapter Two: The Sky Is Mine_

_Comments, Constructive Criticism, and MST 3000's can go to _

* * *

The birds outside the Kurosaki home sang to greet the warm sun as its rays streamed down through the window, just as they always had in days past. The sun's light shown down upon the house and, despite the damage suffered the previous night, manage to look pristine and tranquil as a house in such a state could.

**BAM!**

Well, so much for that.

Ichigo growled as he put his father in a chicken wing hold. "What the hell's wrong with you old man?! Attacking your son so early in the damn morning!!"

Isshin grinned through the pain, "Very good... my boy! Your... reaction time has... improved tremendously! Soon... I can trust you to handle that cheater all by yourself!"

Ichigo frowned, continuing to put pressure on his father's arm before a flash of memory stabbed his mind.

_

* * *

_

_Ichigo ignored her and grabbed a bat nearby as he rushed downstairs. His body pulsed with adrenalin as his eyes caught glimpse of his father hunched over, blood pooling at his abdomen. A cold sweat pored down his brow as he forced himself to run past his father into the living room area._

_

* * *

_

Ichigo released his father and turned him around to face him. He ripped open his shirt to reveal a hairy, well-defined torso that was surprisingly wound free.

"No wounds," Ichigo murmured in surprise.

Isshin jerked away from his son and proceed to button his shirt, "What are talking about, boy? Has the cheater started to play games with your mind or something? Why would I be hurt?"

Ichigo twitched in annoyance, " Would you stop calling her that? She's not even here to..."

_

* * *

_

_His gaze turned towards the hollow's hand and his heart dropped. In it's hand it held Tatsuki cradling Karin's unconscious form. "**TATSUKI! KARIN!**"_

_Tatsuki turned to Ichigo, and he could see a deep cut over her left eye, forcing it closed. "Ichigo... get out of here... please..."_

* * *

Ichigo suddenly grabbed his father by the collar, "Wait, where's Tatsuki?! What about Yuzu and Karin?! Are they all right?"

Isshin gave his son a concerned look, "Yuzu and Karin are fine. Your wife went back home after dinner. Don't you remember?"

Ichigo blinked in confusion at his father as another set of memories played out in his mind.

_

* * *

_

_Ichigo gave the hollow a cool gaze as the arm it cut off laid behind him. It let off a howl of pain and reached for it's removed limb. Ichigo hefted his zampakuto behind him as the beast charged._

_"That... was for my sisters."_

_Moving faster than anyone could comprehend, Ichigo appeared behind the hollow, as it let off another howl of pain._

_"That... was for my father."_

_Suddenly, Ichigo leaped up into the sky, his blade over his head and a look in his eye that promised vengeance._

_"And this... **IS FOR MY GIRLFRIEND, YOU ASSCLOWN!!**"_

_

* * *

_

Ichigo frowned at his father before turning around and breaking out into a run out of his room, "Hey boy! Hold on a sec!"

He ignored his father as he ran down the stairs, pausing at the bottom of the stairs to openly gawk at the hole that was covered by police tape and plaster wood.

"It's amazing isn't it, Ichi-nii?"

Ichigo turned to face his younger sister, "Yuzu?"

Yuzu nodded as she walked toward her brother, "Yes, I was shocked when daddy told me a truck hit the house while we were sleeping! Isn't that amazing?"

"What's amazing," Karin started as she came from behind the two, " Is the fact that no one woke up to stop the jerk that did this and stick him with the bill."

"Karin..." Ichigo whispered in amazement.

Karin frowned slightly at her elder brother's look. "What?"

Ichigo shook himself out of his daze, "It's nothing."

"WOW! What the hell happened here?!"

Ichigo gasped and ran out the house, spotting his girlfriend gawking that the hole much like he had mere moments ago. He approached her slowly, in stunned amazement. "Tatsuki," he whispered in a mixed tone of awe and relief.

Her head jerked back as if she heard him and she turned to face him, "Ichigo what happened to your place?" She then took note of how he was looking at her, "What's wrong?"

Ichigo was now standing in front of her as his hand cupped her face. His thumb grazed over her cheek as a relived smile broke across his face, "Nothing. Nothing's wrong."

Tatsuki's brow wrinkled in confusion, "Are you sure? Did goat beard hit you harder than you thought this morning?"

"Ha! Shows how much you know, cheater!"

Tatsuki twitched in annoyance and Ichigo retreated his hand to palm his own face in annoyance, "Oh god, here he goes again."

"Don't worry my son," Isshin proclaimed, A magnifying in his hand. "For I have finally caught the perp returning to the scene of the crime!"

Ichigo blinked, "Ok, I gotta hear this one old man."

Isshin smirked confidently, "It's quite simple really, and it's partially your fault as well my boy."

Ichigo blinked, "My fault?"

"Quiet boy! Watch a detective at work!" He then turned back to Tatsuki, "Did you flash him?"

"Flash him?"

"Yes, flash the poor bastard when you and that sexual miscrient I must call a son decided to make me a grandfather?!"

Tatsuki blinked once before blushing a deep red, "**WHAT?!**"

"Yes, I can see it now," Isshin nodded to himself," The poor man was just driving along, making his deliveries when... **BAM!** He was blinded by your god-awful striped panties that my boy probably had a handful of!"

Tatsuki growled, "Goat chin, you are clearly on something."

Isshin nodded, "Yes I am! The path of truthiness! I can see it all now, you seduce my boy into your web of tomboy hanky panky. Eventually you pervert him into making out in public enroot to secret rendezvous to the park for some nookie! And then..."

**BAM!**

Isshin's train of thought was interrupted by Tatsuki's fist sending him into the house, convientily creating another hole near the gaping hole in the house. Her boyfriend sighed, "Did you really have to hit him that hard? That was, like, the last thing we needed."

Tatsuki lowered her fist, "Sorry, but you know he had that coming."

Ichigo frowned. While he knew she was right in that regard, the last thing he needed was another hole in the house, "You do realize I have to fix this to right?"

His girlfriend blushed again, "Oh, right. Sorry. Do you want me to help?"

Ichigo was about to say yes when Karin appeared, "No need, Tatsuki-neechan. Goat Beard said he's got someone coming to fix the hole up today. Besides, Yuzu just finished making breakfast. Wanna join us?"

Tatsuki smiled at the younger girl, "Sure thing, squirt. Hurry up and get dressed Ichigo. I got a feeling I need to get to school fast today and I don't want you slowing me down, 'k babe?"

"Yeah, sure..." Ichigo trailed off, following his girlfriend back into his home, idly wondering what happened to that shinigami from last night. Did she cause them to think that a truck caused this damage? And how did she get Tatsuki home, much less know where she lived? And... did she go back to that Soul Society place?

* * *

"Oh, Hime! What are you thinking about?"

Orihime, snapped out of her daydream, turned towards Chizuru, "Huh? Oh, nothing really." She waved her hands for emphasis.

Chizuru smiled deliriously, "Hmmm, you're so cute hime. Could you have been thinking about me?"

"Hm? No, but now that you mention it the other day Tatsuki caught from falling. If she hadn't you probably would have fallen on me." Chizuru frowned as she remembered how Tatsuki had 'caught' her from falling on her dear Orihime. Damn Pussyblocker.

Orihime stared at Chizuru as she continued to frown. "Are you ok, Chizuru? You aren't still hurt from that fall, are you?"

Chizuru's anger faded as quickly as it came hearing Orihime's voice, "That's just like you, My Hime. Always so concerned for me."

"Yeah, because we're friends, right?"

Grabbing Orihime's hand, Chizuru gazed lovingly into her eyes. "I'd hope we could be more than that, Hime."

**POW!**

"Tatsuki-chan! Kurosaki-kun!"

"Too close. Too damn close," Tatsuki huffed.

"I see what you mean now", Ichigo mentioned to Tatsuki, trying to catch his breath.

"_G-G-G-G-G-Goooo..._"

Ichigo turned to Orihime. "Morning, Inoue. You ok?"

"Ah! Yes Ahhh...uhh..."

Ichigo smiled. "Good to hear." He then looked down on the floor. "You still alive?"

"I can see Tatskuki's granny panties with my x-ray goggles..." Chizuru mumbled deliriously

Ichigo winced as Chizuru's face cracked the tile under the weight of his girlfriend's foot. Turning back to Orihime, he grew concerned as he noticed how red her face was. "You sure your ok, Inoue?"

"_Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-_Yes! Thank you for asking."

Ichigo blinked at her turnaround. "If you say so. Yo, Tatsuki, teacher's almost here. You should get her back in her seat before she notices," He then frowned at his girlfriend. "Besides, I think Chizuru's gonna need that foot."

"Maybe, maybe not", grumbled Tatsuki as she hefted Chizuru by her collar and flipped her back into her seat. Chizuru slammed back into sitting position but didn't bounce back, her head over the back of the chair seemingly staring at the ceiling.

"God is that you? It's me, Chizuru."

Tatsuki nodded in satisfaction before taking her seat. Ichigo followed suit and stared at the ceiling numbly before the bell rang, starting the school day. The class representative made the class do the usual routine of rising and bowing for the homeroom teacher before said teacher brought everyone to attention.

"Ok kids, quiet down," the homeroom teacher, Mrs. Ochi began. "We got a new transfer student in today so let's at least look like we're a fairly normal class, eh?"

Ichigo's eyes went from the ceiling to the door, humoring his curiosity for a moment to at least get a look at the new student. The door opened and a petite girl walked in. Ichigo frowned as something about this girl seemed familiar for some reason.

_

* * *

_

_The sprit was female and was short, that much he could tell. If they where standing side by side, she would barely come up to his elbow. That wasn't the most remarkable thing about this sprit, however. She was dressed in a dark hakama and carrying a sword that had to be as tall as she was._

_

* * *

_

Ichigo's eyes widened in shock, and his jaw slowly descended to open his mouth, "No way...", he muttered.

Tatsuki looked away from the new student and towards her boyfriend and took note at his reaction. She blinked in surprise before frowning and turning back to the new girl.

"Class, this is Kuchiki Rukia-san. Everyone say hello."

Rukia curtsied and gave a demure smile, "My, It's nice to meet you all. I do hope we can all become good friends!"

While it's noteworthy to mention that a good number of the male students developed a fixation on the new student on the spot, Ichigo's reaction was still the most noteworthy as he was now lifting a finger at Rukia and still looking at her in surprise, "But... why?"

Mrs. Ochi began scanning the class, "Now where can you sit at? Hmmm..." She then spotted Ichigo and an empty desk near the boy's own, "Ah! Kurosaki-kun is trying to point out a space for you, but is too shy to speak! Huh... Killer. Kuchiki-san..."

Rukia curtsied to Mrs. Oichi, "Of course, sensei!" She then proceeded to the empty desk by Ichigo and took a seat just as Ichigo started to regain his bearings. Flashing an open palm to the young man, her demure smile ever-present. "Excuse me, Kurosaki-kun was it? Do you mind sharing your textbooks with me for now? I haven't had the time to get my own yet."

Ichigo was just about to ask Rukia what the hell she was even doing there when he read her palm and noticed the simple message there.

Make a scene and I swear, I'll gut you.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed at Rukia as he nodded in the affirmative. His questions would have to wait until later.

_

* * *

_

"So where are you taking me big boy? Are you planning to do all sorts of naughty things to my body in public?"

Ichigo turned green in his mind at the thought, "Man, shut up! Don't you know that kind of talk will get you killed? Besides, that's disgusting!" The duo had gone off to a secluded part of the school, where they were less likely to be disturbed and questioned about last night's events. "Anyways. why the hell are you still here, chibi-gami? Why didn't you go back to that Soul Society place after I killed that hollow? And why the hell are you sneaking into my class?"

"Oh shush," Rukia began, dropping her demure act. "I'd have to be a shinigami to go back to the Soul Society. And right now, I can't."

Ichigo blinked, "Well, why the hell not? Did they make up a new height requirement?"

Rukia flushed red with irritation, "**NO!**" Exhaling a breath, she continued, "I lost all my reiatsu! My powers!"

Ichigo frowned, "So... what? Where'd they go?"

"Inside you. Your soul. Last night, I only meant to give you half of my power but you somehow took it all! I now have to rely on this gigai so I'm not prey for any opportunistic hollows! So," She extended her hand out to him, a confident look in her eyes. "Since this is all your fault, you have to take my place and become a substitute shinigami until my powers return!"

Ichigo blinked once, scratched his chin and blinked again before crossing his arms in an X, "Yeah... um, fuck that noise! Isn't no way in hell I'm doing that!"

Rukia paused before looking at the young man in disbelief, "I'm sorry, did you just say no?! Then why where you so eager last night?"

Ichigo frowned at Rukia, a uneasy look in his eyes, "...It's just..."

"Hello, Ichigo," a voice colder than an iceberg greeted him.

"**GAAAAAHHHH!**" Ichigo shuddered, and turned around to greet the voice. "Hey, Tatsuki. What's up?"

If it where possible, Tatsuki's frown deepened at Ichigo's panicked expression. "So.. Ichigo, who's your friend?"

Ichigo chuckled nervously, "Ah, Tatsuki, you know who this is! The new student remember?"

Tatsuki looked her over. Small. Smaller than her. She frowned as she didn't remember as both she and Ichigo got to class at the same time. Unbidden a tiny growl emanated from her mouth and her eyes narrowed, "Nice to meet you," she growled

Rukia looked back. The hairs on her head standing a bit at the gaze from this girl. She's sizing me up, she realized. Glaring in return for a moment, she nevertheless cheered up and bowed. "It's so very nice to meet you. My name is Kuchiki Rukia, and Kurosaki-san here was showing me around".

"I'm so sure," Tatsuki frowned. She turned towards her boyfriend, "Ichigo, can I talk to you over here? **NOW?**"

"N-now? As in now, **NOW?**"

Tatsuki frowned deepened, "What other kind of now is there?" Walking over to her 'loving' boyfriend, she dragged Ichigo into a far corner of the park as Rukia blinked in slight confusion.

'...', was all Rukia could muster at the sight.

"Hey, hey, hey Tatsuki!" Ichigo protested as his girlfriend proceeded to drag him away from Rukia. "What's wrong with you?!"

Tatsuki had not let go of Ichigo's clothing and with a jerk brought him to eye level with her, "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? I mean, how does this look to you? Honestly? This 'little' girl dragged you off. Alone. You panicked when you looked at her."

"You surprised me," Ichigo stated flatly

"**_I_** surprised you?" she echoed incredulously.

"Yes! You surprised me! I mean for god's sake we weren't doing anything!"

She stared at him, her hand still clutching his collar. "You panicked when you saw her the classroom. Why?"

Ichigo frowned, "She... looked familiar is all. I got caught off guard."

Her face took on an incredulous expression, "The same guy who helped me kick the crap outta those guys last week? The same guy who stood up to Tanaka in front of the school after he swung at you with your back turned?"

"Yes, the very same! It does happen, y'know!" Ichigo huffed. "You don't honestly think I'd cheat on you do ya?"

She released him at that. "No..no, but..."

"But what?"

Tatsuki was cut at that. From the corner of her eye she looked at the little girl who dragged her boyfriend off. Eyes narrowing, she grabbed Ichigo's collar again, bringing him to her and crashing her lips against his and delivering a deep, possessive kiss. After a moment she let him go, "I'll believe you, as you definitely weren't expecting that." She turned to glare at the girl again. "I'll see you in class, Ichigo".

Ichigo was still for a few moments before he finally muttered, "There's something wrong with my pants."

Rukia looked downward and grew a full face blush, "A..ah..."

"Anyways, go on back to that Soul Society place eh? I really need to fix my pants," Ichigo walked away from Rukia in a daze, "Yeah, I'm gonna go over here and fix my pants."

"A...ah," Rukia continued before she shook herself out of it. She frowned_. This is going to be a lot more difficult than I imagined,_ she thought to herself.

_

* * *

_

Ichigo smiled as he stepped out of the bathroom, towel over his head and allowing the cool air to slap his face. Nothing beat a nice, hot bath for the young man and after the last few days, He needed to unwind a bit.

After Rukia reviled to him that she was stuck in Katakura until her powers returned, Ichigo had found himself harassed daily by the shinigami at every moment the girl could find. To compound matters, Tatsuki had taken her advances the wrong way and taking every moment to 'mark her territory' as it were, leaving the poor boy with raging hard-on's at his girlfriend's advances. Even worse, she was delighting in the fact that she could get such reactions out of him.

Being a full blooded teenage male was a gift and a curse all at once.

As he was about to ascend upstairs to his room, his cell phone rang. Shrugging, he picked it up and looked at the caller I.D. to find the tease in question was calling him. He snorted as he answered the phone, "Yo, Kurosaki here."

_-Hey, babe. Whatcha doin?-_

"Not much," he started as he went up the stairs, "Just got out the bath."

_-Tisk. Should have called me. I'd have joined you.-_

Ichigo huffed at that, "Yea, I'm sure that would have gone over lovely with your pops. So what's up? Why you calling me? Are you coming over?"

_-What? Can't I just call my boyfriend to her his sexy voice?-_

He grinned, "Well, I am a sexy beast, but you do - "

_-Don't say it like that-,_ the now deadpan voice of his girlfriend responded. _-You sound like goat chin.-_

Ichigo's good mood evaporated quickly as he realized she was right. The mood now gone, he turned to more mundane things. "So, what's up?"

_-Well, I called because last night she got hit by a car and...-_

Ichigo blinked, "A CAR?! Is she alright?"

_-Yes, she's fine. I'm going to see her now. Got anything you want me to tell her?-_

"Yeah, just that I hope she's o.k. Geez should I come over there to?"

_-... Ah, that's o.k. babe. It'll be a girl's night out kind of thing. See you tomorrow?-_

**THUMP!**

Ichigo frowned and turned to the direction of the sound, -What was that?-

"Probably nothing," he lied as he walked toward his closet. "Hey you go on and check on Inoue. I'll see you in the morning o.k.? Bye."

_--Bye- ,_ Ichigo hung up his phone as he pressed his ear to the door to his closet. He could hear breathing on the other side of the door, "Who's there?"

No response.

"I know someone's in there. Who is it? A robber? Lookin' for the safe?"

No response again.

"Fine then, robber. Let's see you get away now!" Ichigo then proceeded to open the door, revealing Rukia wearing flannel pajamas and an embarrassed smile on her face. Ichigo's frown deepened to a new level as he pointed a finger at the shinigami.

"Oh this shit is **NOT** gonna fly."

* * *

"And that's when I planted a big ol' kiss on his lips! You should've seen his face!"

Orihime looked upon Tatsuki with amazement, "Wow, Tatsuki-chan! You're so bold!"

Tatsuki puffed her chest out at Orihime's praise "It's like I say, sometimes ya just gotta mark your territory! I'd like to see that little midget try and make a move on my love slave now!"

Orihime laughed and gave Tatsuki light applause, "You go, Tatsuki-chan! Fight for your love!"

Tatsuki nodded, "Damn straight, if you don't set your foot down with some of these new bitches when it comes to your man, they'll snatch him up like that!"

"Well, I think it's great that Kurosaki-kun has you to protect him from such bold women. It shows how much you love him."

Tatsuki's chest deflated, and her head drooped slightly as a guilty look crossed her face. "Yeah, great," she whispered to herself before shaking her head, "You know..."

"Hmm? Tatsuki-chan, are you embarrassed?" Orihime smiled at her friend, "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Like I said, it's wonderful that you and Kurosaki-kun love each other so much."

Tatsuki flinched, and her. hands fidgeted, "You think..."

"I think allot, yes."

Tatsuki stared at Orihime for a moment before laughing, "Well, that came out of nowhere."

**THOMP!**

"What was that?" Tatsuki asked. Slowly, the girls turned around to find a stuffed bear on the floor.

"Oh no! Enraku fell over! Man down! Man down!" Orihime cried. Tatsuki sighed in relief as Orihime checked on her prized teddy bear.

"Man, what's wrong with me?" The martial artist asked to herself. The answer was obvious. After Orihime's statement, she was feeling guilty. A part of her was feeling guilt that she had stole any chance her best girlfriend had at winning her boyfriend. It was silly to feel that way she realized, She and Ichigo had started dating shortly before she realized Orihime's crush on the young punk, but still...

She frowned as she turned to look at Orihime. She didn't deserve that. To have her hopes squashed before she even had a chance to tell him how she felt. Her eyebrow's narrowed in confusion as Orihime hadn't moved from her position on the floor, "Something wrong?" she asked as she knelt behind Orihime.

Orihime didn't hear her. Her vision started to blur, and her breathing was becoming more labored. The room all of sudden started to tilt and she pulled her hand back from the stuffed animal, staring at the red liquid that came from it, "Enraku's...bleeding?" Orihime asked in dazed confusion.

"What are you--", Tatsuki suddenly sucked her breath in, her head shooting straight up as a deep pain in her chest stabbed at her. Her eyes began to water as she had enough time to wonder what happened as darkness claimed her.

_

* * *

_

"Explain," Ichigo stated bluntly as he and Rukia sat in front of each other cross legged on his bed.

Rukia frowned, "I thought I told you already about you having my powers. Do I need to tell you again in simpler terms?"

"You know damn well that's not what I'm talking about!" Ichigo threw his thumb at the closet, "What the hell are you doing sleeping in my closet?! Do you have a death wish or something?"

Rukia sighed giving Ichigo a sad, dejected look, "I have no where else to go," she sniffled, her hands brought to her chin adding to her forlorn face for emphasis. "You wouldn't leave a poor helpless girl out on the streets would you?"

Ichigo frowned, "That's disgusting. Stop that now."

Rukia sighed dramatically, wiping at her eyes, "Oh Kurosaki-kun, You're so heartless. And besides you owe me."

Ichigo turned away from her, "I don't owe you that much. In case you haven't noticed, my girlfriend has been decidedly territorial against you and I'd rather not give her a reason to kick both my ass and yours." A part of his mind reminded the young punk that he liked it when Tatsuki got possessive, but was quickly squashed down as now was not the time to get into those thoughts.

"Besides," Ichigo continued. "I fought that hollow thing to save her and my family. There's no way I can fight something like that for total strangers! I'm not that self sacrificing!"

Rukia lowered her head, "Self sacrificing?" Ichigo was slightly taken aback at her tone now. "Who are you trying to fool exactly?"

"What do you mean", asked Ichigo.

"I watched you. I watched as you attacked that hollow without abandon the moment my powers began to flow through you."

Ichigo watched her silently, waiting for her to continue.

"While having no skill with a blade you put everything into stopping it from harming them. The look in your eyes as you forced that hollow back told me more about you than what your blabbering about now."

Ichigo huffed, "So what? What does that have to do with anything, chibi-gami?"

"**IDIOT!**"Rukia shouted, taking Ichigo aback, "That is proof! Proof that you where meant to do this! You say that you're not self sacrificing? Is it to much to ask that you stop lying to yourself?" She paused, considering her next words carefully, "That night, Kurosaki Ichigo. That night you showed how willing you are to put your life on the line just to protect people in danger. And here you sit, and you have the gall to lie to my face like that?"

Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed as he grit his teeth and clenched his fists as he stared down at this pint sized pain in the ass. _How dare you,_ he thought._ How dare you say things like that when you've only been -_

He stopped as a ringing tone came from Rukia's pocket and she took out her cell phone. "Now what?" he asked.

She tossed him her phone. He caught it and looked down on the display to see a familiar address and frowned, "This is Inoue's place. What's this supposed to mean?"

Rukia's tone was even as she spoke, "At 9:00 p.m. give or take ten minutes... within a twenty meter radius of your friend's home... A hollow will appear."

Ichigo leaned forwarded and grabbed the smaller girl's shoulder, "Can you turn me into a shinigami?"

"No."

Ichigo's face contorted into a mixture of anger and shock, "What?!"

Rukia looked back up at the young man, "Or to be more precise, I can but I won't."

Ichigo growled, "Why you..."

"You can't play favorites, Ichigo. If you're going to use the power inside you, you have to do this all the way. A shinigami must be fair to all! Human and ghost alike! If you're going to save your friend, you must save everyone! Even be willing to sacrifice your life for them! To live up to your duty!"

"Are you fuckin' kiddin' me?! Duty?!" Ichigo fired back, "Since when does duty come into play when saving someone? Inoue's my friend, yes, but I'll save her because I can!! Besides, when you gave me this power... when you put your life on the line to save mine... are you going to sit there and tell me that it was just your duty?! If so... that's a piss poor reason to die for something! At least for me it is!"

The two where silent for a moment before Ichigo sighed and looked down, "I'll do it... but not because it's my duty. I'll be a shinigami... but not just because I owe you. I'll do it to protect my precious people... saving everyone else I can do, but I'll be a shinigami for a selfish reason," He looked back into Rukia's eyes, "Can you live with that?"

Rukia sighed before putting on a strange red glove with a flaming black skull, "I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

That said, she placed the hand with the glove on it under Ichigo's chin and pushed forward. Ichigo felt a disorienting sensation for a moment before he found himself falling back on his pillow. Looking down, he found himself in the shinigami garb of a few days prior. He positioned himself near his window to leave, then frowned at Rukia, "Just remember this. When this hollow is gone chibi-gami, your ass is out."

_

* * *

_

The first thing Tatsuki noticed as she came to was that her chest was burning. She groaned and opened her eyes and looked down at her chest, her mind idly wondering how a chain got there anyway. Her head felt like it was swimming, and as she tried to sit up her body felt heavier than she remembered.

"Well, this is an unexpected bonus."

Tatsuki froze and looked up. She gasped at the monster hovering above her. It had a dark mop of hair and what appeared to be a skull mask on it's face. She backed away slowly, eyes widening in fear. "W-w-w-what the hell are you...?"

The monster grinned, and Tatsuki felt a cold chill down her spine, "I only intended to make Orihime suffer, and this..."

The monster's words registered within in head, however she was so terrified that she couldn't muster the anger that would normally make itself known. "Orihime? Why her?"

If anything, the...the 'face' of the monster looked angrier and she found herself wanting to scramble away, as fast as she could, which unfortunately at that moment couldn't hope to match a snail's pace.

"You...**HOW DARE YOU ASK ME THAT?! YOU'LL SUFFER JUST LIKE HER!**"

Tatsuki felt her terror intensify as it now began reach out toward her. She wanted to scream but her mouth didn't work. The words that barely made themselves heard were barely above a whisper.

"Help... help me...somebody"

The hand came closer.

"...please.."

The Beast edged closer.

"...please..."

His hand reached out to her. Grasping her chain, "**DIE!**"

"...Help Me!"

"**ARRRRR!!**"

Tatsuki blinked in surprise as the monster reared it's hand back in pain. Her gaze wend down to find the chain on her chest was glowing slightly.

"How did you do that?!"

Tatsuki blinked in confusion. "Do what?"

The monster growled and raised it's non burned hand. "For that... for that...," The raised hand then lowered to attack her, "**FOR THAT YOU DIE!!**"

Tatsuki's flinched and her eyes closed as she waited for the blow, 'No... Ichigo!'

"Ta-Tatsuki!?"

Both she and the monster stopped to turn to the voice. Tatsuki's eyes widened in surprise, as she was now seeing her boyfriend walking through the walls, "I...Ichigo?"

Ichigo's surprised eyes narrowed as he immediately took in the situation, charging as he saw his girlfriend in peril.

"You... You think you can stop me... Kurosaki Ichigo?!" The monster asked, meeting Ichigo's charge.

Ichigo's eyes flickered for second, registering that this Hollow knew him by name before bringing his zampakuto overhead, swinging with all his strength, "Damn straight captain overbite, It's my job as a shinigami!"

The blow however, was to shallow. The monster roared and swiped at Ichigo, shoving the substitute shinigami out of the house, sending plywood over the place. "Far to slow 'shinigami'. And far to weak to stop me."

Tatsuki winced at the attack. Groaning, she forced herself to look around as the monster now focused her attention on her boyfriend. _What the hell was up with his outfit anyway?_ She thought. _And what's a shinigami?_

_And...and what the hell was with that behemoth sword he was carrying?_

Her eyes caught sight of Orihime's unconscious body, noticing the same chain coming out of her chest leading to... her body? "What the hell?" she wondered.

She was looking at her own chain before the sounds of battle brought her mind back to her boyfriend.

"Is it...," the monster stated. "So shocking that Tatsuki and Orihime are dead Kurosaki Ichigo?"

_Dead?_ Tatsuki thought in shock._ I'm... I'm dead?! But when?_

"D-dead?", she heard her boyfriend echo, his eyes widening in surprise.

"You're lying," Ichigo whispered. "There's no way..."

The hollow sneered at him. "Am I?"

"You...LIIIIIIE!" Ichigo charged in a blind rage at the hollow.

The hollow's sneer grew and it raised it's tail to defend itself from Ichigo's attack. Scales? He thought as his blade clanged against the monster's skin. Suddenly, the hollows front teeth parted and spat at the shinigami. It landed on Ichigo's skin and he dropped his sword in pain, not allowing the hollow the pleasure of hearing him scream.

"**ICHIGO!**", Tatsuki screamed as she saw him in pain.

"**ICHIGO!**" Rukia screamed as she approached the scene.

"Goddamn you..." Ichigo growled at the hollow.

"Kuro...saki-kun?"

Everyone turned to the new voice, finding Orihime had regained consciousness and was near Tatsuki, panting heavily.

"Orihime?" The hollow's voice had a pained tone as he gazed upon the young girl. Orihime stared at the monster. Her eyes widened as it started to make it's way toward her. "Orihime...", it said once again.

She gasped and moved back, away from the hollow. Tatsuki noticed and protectively moved in front of her. The hollow noticed this and it's head lowered. "Have... have you forgotten my voice Orihime?" It raised a hand to the it's head and pulled it's hair back to reveal it's face.

It's skull face that now had flesh, "Have you... forgotten your own brother?"

"Sora?" Orihime asked in amazement. "Sora is that... is that you?"

"What the hell," Ichigo asked in daze confusion turning to Rukia, "Why is Orihime's brother a hollow? I thought all hollows were monsters!"

"That's right, they are monsters now!" "Rukia answered, "And you must kill them!"

Ichigo's gaze grew haunted, "But... but if they were normal people..."

Rukia grabbed him by his robes, "You don't have the time to be having a moral crisis right now Ichigo! You've got to hurry or that hollow **WILL** eat your friend's souls!"

Sora took advantage of this discussion by using his tail to knock the pair into a lower room of the apartment building. "**ICHIGO**!" cried Tatsuki. She lunged foreword to see where he landed but was grabbed by Sora's massive hand. She screamed in pain as the hollow began to crush her.

Orihime began punching futilely at Sora's hand in an attempt to free Tatsuki, "Sora, stop! Why... why are you doing this? Why are you hurting Tatsuki-chan and Kurosaki-kun?"

"Because they tried to make you forget me!" Sora growled angrily in response. His grip on the martial artist tightened and Tatsuki's screams grew louder, "Every day... every day after I died you prayed for me. That made me so... so happy. Your prayers eased my sufferings." His face contorted in rage, "But then... but then you made friends with this girl and you prayed for me less! And then... then you met Kurosaki Ichigo, and you stopped praying for me all together! All you would talk about was him and this girl! And how happy you were that they were together!"

His head lowered and his voice softened, "It hurt me, Orihime. It was like... it was like you were forgetting all about me." His voice grew with intensity as he looked back at Orihime, "I was so lonely... so unbearably lonely, Orihime!"

"...Sora..."

"And that's why... that's why... That why they have to die! **AS WELL AS YOU, ORIHIME!**"

**CRASH!**

"**ARRRRRHH!!**"

Sora's cry of pain could be attributed to the massive blade that was impaled in his wrist from under the floorboard. Orihime's older brother dropped Tatsuki to the floor and the blade disengaged itself from his wrist. Ichigo suddenly appeared over his girlfriend, a dark look in his eyes.

"What... the hell... is wrong with you?!" Ichigo growled at the hollow, "What the hell kind of brother tells his little sister that he'll kill her?!" He pointed his blade at Sora, "A big brother's job is to protect his little sister!!"

"Damn you... **DAMN YOU KUROSAKI ICHIGO!! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS STAND IN MY WAY?! I RAISED HER!! I PROTECTED HER!! AND NOW SHE'LL DIE WITH ME!! AND NO ONE**...," Sora charged at Ichigo. He raised his zampakuto to block Sora's bite. "**NO ONE CAN HAVE HER!! LEAST OF ALL YOU, KUROSAKI ICHIGO!!**"

"Forgive me... Sora."

The pair stopped their struggle to look at Orihime, the young girl on the verge of tears. "I... I just wanted to share my memories with you." She began sobbing, "I had hid it from you 'hic' the pain and 'hic' loneliness I had! I just... 'hic' showed my happiness so you wouldn't suffer for me! I... had no idea 'sob' that you were so.. lonely... "hic' I never meant to hurt you... I... love... you..."

Orihime collapsed in exhaustion. "Inoue!" Ichigo cried as Sora stood in stunned shock.

"Ori..hime...", mumbled Tatsuki as she regained consciousness. Ichigo was by her side quickly. Holding his blade behind him.

"Tatsuki!! Hang on! Both of you! There's gotta be a way to fix this!"

"There is...," Rukia stated as she appeared in the room. "Their Chain of fate are still attached. I can put their souls back into their body."

Ichigo looked immensely relived, "For real?" He blinked as he felt a weight on his blade. He turned to find Sora had cut off the other piece of his hollow mask. "But... why...?"

"Because if I didn't do it now in this state of clarity, I would attack you all again," Sora explained.

"But..."

Sora smiled down at Orihime, "Heh, she's wearing that hairpin I gave her?"

"Wasn't that..." Tatsuki began, "A gift... from you? She wears it... everyday."

Sora's eye's watered as he began to fade away, "I... I thought she threw it away. Heh... Goodbye, Orihime..."

Orihime opened her eyes as Rukia began to put the girl back into her body, "Onii-chan... have a good day."

Sora's eyes widened in surprise before he smiled and nodded at his younger sister and faded out of existence.

_

* * *

_

"Explain," Tatsuki growled at her boyfriend who sat across from her. The girls had been placed back into their bodies and Orihime was now sleeping. Tatsuki had given Rukia her thanks before rounding on her boyfriend to answer her questions, "What's with the getup and why the midget is with you."

Ichigo laughed nervously and scratched his cheek, "There's a perfectly reasonable explanation for all this, Tatsuki."

"Then start explaining, **HONEY**." Her voice had an icy tone that betrayed the affectionate term.

"Wellll.. It's like this..."

Rukia appeared in front of Tatsuki, "Perhaps I can explain better than your lover can at the moment."

Tatsuki blushed lightly at the term and Ichigo flustered. Rukia didn't notice as she pulled out what looked to be a cigarette lighter and flicked in front of the martial artist's eyes.

**FWASH!**

A burst of smoke puffed out of the device and Tatsuki fell over unconscious. "Hey!" Ichigo cried, "What the hell did you just do?!"

"Kikouchikan memory replacement. I gave her a substitute memory," Rukia explained as she approached Orihime. "Tomorrow, they will not remember anything that took place here." She opened Orihime's eyes and repeated the process, "We can't have people knowing about us you see."

Ichigo traced Tatsuki's face with the back of his fingers, "And they'll be fine?"

Rukia nodded, "Absolutely. We can't choose the memories, you understand, they're random but... well you'll see tomorrow."

Ichigo nodded, before tensing slightly. He had agreed to be a shinigami to save her and Orihime but... he had killed someone who used to be human to save them. Was this what it meant to be a shinigami? To kill someone who had become a monster when they couldn't help it? Had he put Tatsuki's life as more important than Sora's soul who and become a monster just because he missed his sister?

"Don't worry, " Rukia's voice had cut through his thoughts and he turned to look at the girl who was smiling down upon him softly. "When you defeat a hollow you're not truly killing him. You're just freeing them of their sin so they can go to the Soul Society."

Ichigo felt a weight lift off his shoulder, and he sighed in relief. "Is that why you shinigami exist?"

Rukia nodded, and Ichigo turned back to Tatsuki, kissing her forehead lightly. I'm sorry, Tatsuki. He thought. But I promise... I'll never put you in this position again.

* * *

"I'm serious! A gunman came and blew a humongous hole in my wall!"

Orihime's statement was met with skeptical looks from her girlfriends. Chizuru sighed wistfully, "Ah, my hime. Your vivid imagination is just another reason why I find you precious."

"But it's true! Tatsuki-chan was there! Didn't that happen?!"

"Yeah, mad gunman..." Tatsuki murmured distractedly, eyes boring a hole at the girl near her boyfriend.

"Eh?! You mean it's true?!", one of the girls listening in piped up?

"Huh?" Tatsuki blinked at the girls outburst, bringing her out of her trying to melt the new girl's head with her non existent heat vision. "What's true?"

"Hime! I'm so glad your ok!", Chizuru cried, glomping onto Orihime before beginning to check for any signs of bruises and blemishes on the girls body.

**POW!**

"Hands off, letcher!" Tatsuki growled dangerously.

Ichigo looked on at the display with a detached interest, "Huh, that thing really works," He winced as Tatsuki made a new crater in the school's floor using Chizuru's body for a canvas.

Rukia smiled confidently, "Of course. I used it on and your family last time. They'll never remember what really happened."

"You sure that won't hurt them any?"

"Of course," Rukia frowned. "You still doubt me?"

"I just don't want them hurt."

"Of course," Rukia nodded. Although she felt his girlfriend could be taken down a few pegs, she could understand his concern. "But there's nothing wrong with your family is there? And look at your lover. She's as energetic as ever. Stop worrying."

Ichigo's eyes twitched at how she referred to his girlfriend but kept his silence. "I guess you're right," Ichigo relented as Tatsuki seemed to finally have stopped beating on the class lesbian. "It's just as well. I don't want to get her involved in what I'm doing anyway."

"Agreed."

Ichigo blinked, before extending his hand, "I know I owe you, Rukia. Big time. And I'm not a total slime bag. So you hurry up and get your powers and I'll be your sub 'till then."

Rukia nodded in acknowledgement.

Ichigo looked at her before asking, "Don't you guys shake hands in that Soul Society place?"

She turned to his and raised an eyebrow. "Shake hands?"

Ichigo frowned before taking her hand and shaking it, "There, like that. Now we're partners."

"Partners?", came an ice-cold voice to his side.

Ichigo tensed, slowly turning around to find his girlfriend giving him and Rukia a glare that would freeze kittens. "H-h-hey babe."

"What are you two doing", she asked, looking at their linked hands.

"Uhhh, nothing." Ichigo lied before letting go of Rukia's hand. Rukia blinked in confusion at this.

Tatsuki continued to stare at her boyfriend, waiting for him to respond.

Ichigo stared back, unsure how to answer being caught red handed.

The teacher entered the classroom, signaling the start of the class. As the students took their seats, Tatsuki's eyes never left her boyfriend's as she went to hers.

_I,_ Ichigo thought_, Am so screwed._ He took his seat, wondering when exactly his love life had turn into the drizzling shits.

* * *

**_End Chapter Two_**

_Author's Notes:_

Huh, what's up with Tatsuki I wonder? Eh, maybe It'll make sense one day. Then again maybe not. I don't know. Anyways, School chaos and Urahara shows his crafty mug next time.

Many thanks to Wheeljack, as always, for his help. And also, thanks to the folks at TFF for their responses to the first installment.

Laterz...


	3. Why so jealous? Drum & Bass Remix

_**Bleach is created by Tite Kubo and distributed by Weekly Shonen Jump,  
Shueisha, Studio Pierrot, TV Tokyo, Adult Swim, & Viz Media LLC.**_

No permission has been obtained from any of the copyright holders for the use of the  
characters and situations from this series. This work of fiction is not for profit and not  
intended to infringe on copyrighted intellectual property in any significant or harmful  
way.

Should Kubo, or any of his affiliates, request it, this not-for-profit story will  
be taken off line as quickly as possible.

Any original characters, however, are owned by me. If you steal them, I shall hunt you  
down and skewer your nuts. You want to use them? Just ask me first as I'll probably say  
yes.

Feedback is encouraged. That's why I write. Also for the cookies.

Flames are pointless, as the author is a flaming retard.

...hold up, that's not what I meant. Uh, let's just start the story.

----------==========----------

"I'm sorry, Tatsuki."

Tatsuki looked at her boyfriend in confusion as he gave  
her a pained expression, "Why? What do you have to be sorry about Ichigo?"

"It's over. We're finished." Ichigo then turned his back on the girl, closing his eyes.  
"I just don't love you anymore."

Tatsuki looked at her boyfriend in stunned shock, "Y....you don't mean that, Ichigo. You can't..."

"I do. I've found someone else. Someone better suited for me." Ichigo extended his hand out  
and Tatsuki growled at the figure who appeared to take it. "Rukia-chan... Rukia-chan  
completes me. And complements me far better than you."

Rukia smirked cruelly at the young woman before waking up to her slowly.  
Tatsuki tried to will her body to move, to attack this tramp that had stolen her man but  
found she couldn't move from her position. Rukia then laughed arrogantly at the  
martial artist as she proceed to put her hand in her chest and tear her heart out,  
tossing it contemptuously into the ground.

-Tat-chan!-

"That's right. My beloved Ichi-chan will *always* call me `Rukia-chan', Tatsuki," said  
Rukia. "And he will never call *you* anything, ever again. You see, he  
loves me *so* much, that I've convinced him that you are nothing more than a brute,  
uncultivated, non-feminine thug who's unworthy of such a man as Ichi-chan. "

-Tat-chan!-

Tatsuki's balled fists clenched ever tighter as her tears continued to fall.  
The gaping hole in heart was ever so slowly being replaced by burning hot embers.  
Looking at the bitch who was so blatanly savoring the moment those embers quickly  
flared to an inferno.

"You bitch.... you goddamn bitch," she growled.

Rukia smiled. "And you know what else he told me? He told me that it would  
have been so much better if you two never got together in the first place. That  
he was glad he saved his virginity for me so that it wouldn't be waisted on some  
muscle bound freak like you." She walked towards the girl's heart that she had  
tossed aside earlier.

-Open your eyes Tat-chan!-

Rukia raised her foot to the heart, "Though I suppose it doesn't really matter.  
He's forgotten all about you now,anyways. But I can do you a favor and end your  
heartbreak." That said, she lowered her foot down and stepped on it, giggling.

"DAMN YOU! I'LL KILL YOU YOU MAN-STEALING BITCH!

-TAT-CHAN!-

BAM!

----------==========----------  
_**Ghostface211 presents... **_

_**A Bleach Story **_

_**Stranger Than Fiction **_

_**Chapter Three: Why so jealous? (Drum & Bass Remix) **_

_**Comments, Constructive Criticism, and MST 3000's can go to **_  
----------==========----------

Tatsuki gasped and clutched her bed sheets close to her chest,  
a faint sheen of sweat on her brow and her hand clenched  
in a fist and extended. She opened her extended hand and  
palmed her forehead, "Just a dream," she murmured.

Frowning, she looked up to find her father in a newly created hole  
in her bedroom wall, "Oh god! Dad, I'm sorry!"

Shuya pushed himself out of the wall and laughed off  
his daughters concern, "Don't worry about it, Tat-chan.  
It's just proof of the strength in the Arisawa bloodline!"

Tatsuki sighed and looked at her father with  
a mix of relief and humor, a wiry smile on her  
face, "Ok, dad. As long as you're fine."

"Anyways, time to get up Tat-chan. Mom's got  
breakfast ready."

She nodded, "Will do, dad." Shuya laughed  
and left her room, and Tatsuki sighed in relief to  
herself, "Stupid dreams." she murmured.."  
------------------------------------------------

_Ichigo frowned before taking her hand and shaking it, "There, like that.  
Now we're partners."  
_------------------------------------------------  
Tatsuki felt her stomach clench as she frowned at  
the memory. What did he mean by that?, she thought  
to herself. Ichigo wouldn't cheat on me. I trust him.  
_But that new girl... _

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the hole  
she made in the wall, _Better watch her butt!_

----------==========----------

"Tatsuki-chan! Breakfast is ready!"

Tatsuki frowned as she finished puting on her  
school uniform. The dream she had was still  
bothering her a bit more than she'd like to admit.  
Even if she could trust Ichigo, Ichigo's attitude  
about the whole situation was truly pissing her  
off. _Why doesn't he get it? Even if he doesn't care  
what every one else thinks about him...  
Doesn't he... doesn't he care about how this looks  
to me?_

She groaned to herself, as she walked down the steps  
to the kitchen. Damnit, Ichigo... why do you have to be so  
friggin' stupid?

She entered the dining room area and was greeted to the sight  
of her father, who had recovered rather nicly from being punched  
into her bedroom wall, and her mother who ahd finished setting the  
table for the morning meal.

"B-b-b-b-but Tomo-channn! I wanted a western breakfast!" Shuya complained.

Tomoko sighed and rolled her eyes, "You should be grateful that I didn't leave  
you with a bowl of cereal instead."

"But Tomo-chan! How can I reach my full muscular development potiential  
without my ham and eggs?!?"

Tomoko sighed again, "If I agree to cook this for you tomorrow Shuya,  
will you leave me alone and eat your breakfast?"

Shuya sighed and shook his head in disappointment, "Oh Tomo-chan, don't be so  
willing to give in! It's why you can be so dead in the bed sometimes."

**BOOM!**

Shuya slumped from the new hole in the wall his loving wife had made  
using his head as the hammer.

Tatsuki sighed at her father's stupidity before turning to her mother,  
"Momma, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Tomoko looked at Tatsuki, fist still outstretched. "Sure, honey, I'll be with you in a moment".

Tatsuki nodded and took a seat at the table. Tomoko  
wahsed her hands as Shuya twitted silently in the wall.  
Mrs. Arisawa then sat down by her daughter, "Now Tatsuki,  
what is it?"

"Ma-mama, I'm, I'm kinda having some problems."

Tomoko frowned, "Problems? With Ichigo-chan?"

Tatsuki held her arms stiff to her laugh and bent her head down.  
A small nod and a quiet "Um hm" escaped her lips.

"Did you two...?"

Tatsuki's head shot up, knowing what her mother was implementing.  
"N-no, we haven't, bu-but...."

"Oh poo. I was ready to be a grandmother, too." Tomoko smiled teasingly at her daughter.

Tatsuki blushed as she hid her face in her lap. After a moment she brought  
her head back up but kept her eyes forward, not facing her mother.

"Mom, it's, it's this girl at school. I think she's after Ichigo, but he keeps denying it.  
But they've been with each other the moment she stepped into class. And...and, I  
think she's starting to win, and no matter what I can't seem to stop her."

Tomoko frowned slightly, "Tatsuki, do you love Ichigo-chan?"

This time Tatsuki didn't duck or hide her head, but her blush intensified.  
When she thought she had control she looked at her mother. "I....I think I do..."

Tomoko turned away from her daughter, giving a small wistful smile,  
"My baby girl's becoming a woman." She turned back to her daughter,  
" Do you trust him?"

"Yes", she responded immediately, "But, but she's always with him!",  
she added in frustration. "I keep telling her to stay away but she can't  
take the damn hint and Ichigo doesn't seem to be doing anything to stop her!"

Tomoko sighed,"Ah, I see." Her brow furrowed in thought, "How long have you  
known Ichigo-chan?"

Tatsuki smiled at the memory. "Since I made him cry that  
first day in karate class, when we were four."

"Your father never got that image out of his head, you know."

Tatsuki sighed, "Yeah, believe me, I know..."

"And when his mother died, who was able to pick him up after his wold was lost to him?"

Tatsuki looked at her mother as if a revelation had been made to her. "I...I was?"

Tomoko nodded, "You got him to smile again. Imagine how he could have turned out if  
he never had you to support him. That boy... that boy loves you. Loves you dearly, I can tell."  
She tousled her daughter's hair, "Do you honestly think he would ever betray you?  
If he was a man like that, to play with a girl's heart like that, I would never let him near you.  
What you need to do, my dear daughter is fight."

Tatsuki paused as a slow smile spread across her face. She then lifted a fist up. "So your saying that I can -"

"This girl, whoever she is, has no chance of taking Ichigo away from you," Tomoko smiled down at her  
daughter. "So you need to make sure this girl gets the clue train as soon as possible. As for Ichigo..."  
Tomoko sighed, "I love Ichigo-chan like he was my own son, but sometimes he isn't  
the most observant of people."

Tatsuki sighed. "Yeah, he isn't."

"Tell him how you feel. No tip-toeing around it. I'm sure he'll understand.  
He probably doesn't know how to let the girl down gently."

Tatsuki leaned forward, looking at the ground, deep in thought. "Every time we seem to  
reach that corner, something always seems to get in the way or screw it up. This time..., this time,  
I will see it through." She took a deep breath and stood. Turning to her mother she continued.  
"Ichigo doesn't have to worry about letting her down gently. If she can't take the hint after this,  
gentle is a feeling she'll be begging for."

Tomoko smiled and hugged her daughter, "That's my baby girl. I didn't raise a quitter. Go get your man!"

Tatsuki closed her eyes and gave a grim laugh. "Don't worry mama, I will."

Unbenosnted to the mother and daughter, Shuya grinned to himself in  
his hole, _So, the crybaby is now a playboy eh?_ he thought. _knew you were a  
worthless crybaby, Kurosaki Ichigo. But for making my daughter fall in love  
with a man whore like you, there shall be no mercy! Duwah!_

----------==========----------

"Damnit, old man," Ichigo began as he dodged a fist from Isshin, "Why do we have to go  
through this every freakin' morning?!?"

"As if you don't know!" Isshin huffed as blocked a quick combination from  
his son. "As hormonally crazed as you may become, I have to defeat you  
so you and the cheater don't give rise to a race of super human cheating babies!"

"That doesn't make any_OOFF--!_"

Isshin smirked as a kick caught Ichigo on his side, "Success! Now for the fini-"

Isshin never got to finish that statement as Ichigo caught him square in his jaw  
with an overhand right so hard, it sent the patriarch of the Kurosaki clan out  
of Ichigo's bedroom and impaling his head into the wall.

"**GET BENT, OLD MAN!!!!**" Ichigo shouted, cringing a bit and clutching  
the area Isshin had kicked him. 'Got me harder than usual.'

"Having fun, Ichigo?"

Ichigo glared at his closet as Rukia popped out, dressed in her  
school uniform. "What do YOU think?"

Rukia smirked as she walked up to Ichigo, "I think you  
need to do a better job of guarding yourself."

"Ha ha, like you wouldn't get so distracted by that moron  
saying such random crap in the morning."

"Perhaps," Rukia began before poking Ichigo in his injured  
side and causing the substitute shinigami to grimace in pain once  
more. She sighed before giving him a stern look," But if he'd  
been a hollow, you would be in a considerable amount of trouble."

Ichigo simply glared at the girl in response. It had been three weeks  
since the incident with Orihime's brother, and the shinigami was  
no where near closer to regaining her strength nor out of his house.  
It was particularly infuriating as Rukia had pointed out to him  
shortly after the incident that as long as he continued to be a  
substitute shinigami for her, she needed to stick around him  
in order to 'kill' him to become a shinigami. In other words, as  
long as she was powerless, she wasn't going anywhere.

To make a bad situation even worse, Tatsuki had grown  
even more territorial after the incident. Weather she was  
pulling him away from Rukia, giving the both of them heated  
glares, or marking her territory, Ichigo could feel the tension  
between the girls escalating. And while he did enjoy when  
Tatsuki marked her territory, he knew she was nearing her breaking  
point. Honestly, he was surprised his girlfriend had gone this long  
without simply decking Rukia.

Maybe she was learning patience.

"Ichigo?"

Ichigo blinked at hearing Rukia's voice, "Yeah, what?"

"Are you ok? You kinda spaced out for a moment."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed and he let out a breath in irritation, "I'm fine. Just thinkin'."

"Well, hurry up. You don't want to be late do you?" Rukia asked as she walked back  
to his closet to retrieve her book bag.

"Yeah, yeah." Ichigo waived her off. He frowned as his eyes caught sight of a familiar  
device sticking slightly out of her bag. The Kikouchikan memory replacement. While he  
was fine with the device in general, and was fine with erasing Tatsuki's memory of  
that night, A part of him hated that device since it was the cause of his recent  
love life complications.

Idly, he wondered if it would have been better to be completely honest with  
Tatsuki about what he was doing. To come completely clean about Rukia, the  
shinigami thing, everything.

Then he got an image of how Tatsuki would react to how he had protected  
her and shuddered inwardly. Ichigo liked living, thank you very much.

Rukia flicked Ichigo's nose, startling him out of his thoughts. "Wake up."

Ichigo rubbed his nose and glared down at Rukia, "Shouldn't you be gone  
by now, Rukia?"

Rukia gave Ichigo a sugary smile and Ichigo was rather impressed that  
he repressed his gag reflex, "My, Kurosaki-kun! I never knew you  
saw us as that close!"

"Stop that, chibi-gami! That's gross!!"

Rukia smirked as she neared his window sill, "See you at school, Ichigo."

Ichigo just grunted as Rukia left, "...Gonna be one hell of a day."

----------==========----------

Walking to school is usually about as uninteresting as  
one might expect for a young schoolboy, when he is alone.

Usually.

The walk home from school with a pretty girl, however,  
can be one of two things depending on the standing that  
young schoolboy has for the girl or the situation.

Heaven or Hell.

Ichigo Kurosaki was currently feeling the latter.  
Much to his displeasure. Even though Rukia  
had gone off to meet some guy and the two  
of them were alone again, the air between them  
felt strained between them. Definitely the sign  
of a fan-freakin-tastic day as far as the substitute  
shinigami was concerned.

"Nice day, huh?" Ichigo tried after what felt  
like an eternety of silence to him.

Tatsuki didn't respond, her head down slightly  
as the pair continued to walk to school. Ichigo  
sighed to himself, something was on her mind.  
That much was clear to him. What wasn't clear  
was why she was keeping it to herself. It wasn't  
like her.

Ichigo grunted and put a hand on her shoulder, stoping  
Tatsuki in her tracks as she turned to face her boyfriend.  
"C'mon, Tatsuki, spill. What's buggin' you?"

Tatsuki let out a breath she had been holding unawaradly,"Well...um..."

"C'mon, spill. And don't tell me this is about Rukia."

At that, Tatsuki made a sour face and shrugged Ichigo's  
hand off her shoulder, turning away from him, "No." she  
lied.

Ichigo sighed in irritation as she began to walk ahead of him.  
It figures. First time in a while he and Tatsuki had been alone and Rukia  
still found a way to mess that up, "Just what's your problem with her anyway?"

Tatsuki tensed in irritation and walked faster, "I just don't like her. Do I need a reason?"

Ichigo's own pace quickened to catch up to his girlfriend, "Considering she just moved here,  
I'd kinda think so."

Tatsuki stopped walking and Ichigo blinked as she  
turned to her boyfriend and gave him a look of  
exasperation, "Well then how does this strike you?  
She keeps coming onto you no matter how many  
time I make it clear you're my man. And you're not  
exactly discouraging her."

Ichigo scrathced his head in mild irritation, "And as I've told  
you, It ain't like that with her. I mean, jeez, she's new here  
and all. Maybe I just wanted to make her feel welcomed here.  
You ever think of that?"

She gave him a half-lided stare, "And since when are YOU that  
damn friendly?"

Ichigo returned her stare, "Point. But still, she ain't after me like that."

Tatsuki sighed. So naive, "Trust me on this Ichigo, she's got a thing for you."

Or a thing on me, he thought to himself before frowning,  
"So what do you want me to do about it?"

She crossed her arms across her chest, "Take a guess."

Ichigo frowned. There had to be a way for him to come up with  
a reasonable explanation to be around Rukia so much without  
getting Tatsuki involved with his shinigami business. But what?

"...Are you sure you're not just getting the wrong signals?"

Tatsuki groaned in frustration, "Ichigo!"

"Dangit, Tatsuki! I know what you want me to do! It's just...,"  
He sighed and his eyes turned downward, "It's complicated."

"Then uncomplicate it for me, berry-tan."

Ichigo's frown turned into a scowl at the nickname.  
"Look, I get that she's a bit too clingy for your tastes  
Tatsuki, but she is new here. It's not like I can help it  
if I'm the only guy friend she has."

Tatsuki scowled back at her boyfriend, "Like hell you can't!"

"What's THAT supposed to mean?!?"

"I'm starting to think you like having her be around you all the time with her  
'Kurosaki-kun' this and her stupid little curtsying she does!"

"It isn't like that" , he grumbled _It's more frustrating than anything_, he thought as his scowl deepened.

Tatsuki did notice his darkened face at that. "Ichigo," she said softly  
cradling his face in her hands and forcing him to look at her, "What aren't  
you telling me?"

Ichigo's face softened slightly at her concerned look, "Nothing," he lied.

Tatsuki's eyes briefly lit up as one thought struck her.

If she was right.

She was _soooooooo_ going to kill that bitch.

"Does she have anything on you"?

"...Uhhh..."

Ichigo mentally smacked himself as Tatsuki's eye violently twitched at that response.

"I mean no! Definitly not! No blackmail material whatsoever!" _Pleaseletherbuyit,pleaseletherbuyit,Pleaseletherbuyitohhhhshit,  
it's twitching even more._

Tatsuki's head lowered at Ichigo's poorly conceived words, growing a  
dark smirk as she began to put two and two together, _Heh, so that was it.  
Next time I see you, you're dead, bitch_.

Tatsuki breifly looked back up at Ichigo and quickly kissed him and pushed him away.  
She cracked her knuckles and smiled sweetly at her boyfriend, "Don't worry about a thing,  
babe."

Ichigo blinked before a worried look crep unto his face,"....Why?"

"Because I love you," She then dashed off towards the school, leaving a befuddled Ichigo behind.

_You want a war? Bitch, I'll give you one_, was the burning thought coming from Tatsuki, who turned  
up the speed to start her own plans for payback.

Meanwhile, Ichigo let off a groan as he palmed his face into his hands. _Ohdamnohdamnohdamn  
ooooohhhh damn. Now she's really going to try to kill the midget. This is bad, very very bad.  
Damnit, how can this get any worse_?

Pity that he was so concerned about his girlfriend and her plans for his reluctant roommate  
that he failed to notice that dark sillouet hovering above him outlined only by a very familiar  
long main of black hair and eyes that seemed to be glowing.

Perhaps it was for the best.

----------==========----------

Arisawa Shuya sat on his branch. Perched like a hawk, waiting for his prey.  
No, he thought, more like an eagle. An eagle was more noble than a hawk after all.  
And what he was about to do was a noble mission after all. As a father, it was his  
duty to protect his little girl form the dangers of a lustful, spineless, weak and clearly  
shameless playboy. Surely his precocious little girl would forgive him later once she  
came out her hormonal-induced lust for the playboy wuss.

His thoughts stopped as he sensed a familiar presence. Shuya let off a dark smirk. The Prey  
was near, that much he could tell.

Soon, the ass-kicking would begin.

And it would be **GLORIOUS**.

The prey then palmed his face into his hands and Shuya took flight. _Prepare to die, __**KUROSAKI  
ICHIG-!**_

Shuya's thoughts where cut off as a six-inch heel connected with his jaw, sending  
him flying into a wall, sending the impulsive father into the land of unconsciousness.

Ichigo raised his head and blinked at the loud crashing sound, "What the hell?"  
Turning he saw a smokey cloud appear behind him and he quickly jogged to find  
Shuya unconscious, with a deep heel imprint in his cheek.

He frowned and turned to catch up with Tatsuki, "....Don't even wanna know."

Meanwhile, Tomoyo patted down her business suit and gave a small smile at Ichigo's  
retreating figure, "Let our daughter solve her own problems, dear."

That said she looked at her watch and walked off to the bus stop to work.

----------==========----------

"And so that's how we get Y from that. Now for this formula..."

Ichigo's head lowered as his teacher continued on with the lesson, not paying attention.  
No his mind was to concentrated on other things right now.

Scratch that.

Other problems now.

He glanced over to his girlfriend, and felt his stomach tighten yet again as he caught her  
glaring at Rukia with murder in her eyes.

He swallowed. The day couldn't end soon enough...

'It was all for her protection...' he reasoned once more in his mind. 'It was just to keep her safe.'  
He groaned inwardly as Tatsuki turned to him and her glare turned into a determined look as  
she gave him a thumbs up, which he returned with a weak smile. 'Damnit, why does she have  
to be so damn jealous? And why does she have to be soooo damn hot when she is?!?'

He glanced at the clock again. His stomach tightened once more, but whether it was that he  
wanted to hope that the day would be over or that he hoped that this moment wouldn't end  
to avoid disaster he couldn't tell. 'As soon as this bell rings, I gotta be ready for anything..'

Rukia had returned to class last period, and while Ichigo was a little curious as to where the hell  
she'd been all this time, it was taking a backseat to his worries about Tatsuki cornering the  
shinigami.

She wouldn't wait. She didn't have the patience to do so when she thought she had the girl  
dead to rights. If Tatsuki was going to confront Rukia, it would be during lunch.

Time was of the essence. An odd thought crossed his mind. If Rukia, being Shinigami was dead already,  
gigai notwithstanding, could Rukia die again?

He again caught Tatsuki rearing her head towards Rukia and hoped he  
wouldn't have to find out.

*Bing-Bong*

"Rise!"

'...Shit.'

Ichigo rose from his seat and began the customary rise and bow as the period ended.  
'Shitshitshitshiiiiiiiiit!! Now what?'

"Bow!"

Ichigo gulped, 'Ok, game time.'

Every second counted now. Time to show the world what kind of man Ichigo Kurosaki was.  
'I can fix this! I can stop this!'

"Shitsurei shimasu!" The class replied.

As soon as those words left her lips Tatsuki, began to slowly make her way to Rukia and Ichigo  
The bottom of Ichigo's stomach dropped out as a he realized with clarity his sudden bout of  
confidence was in vain. 'Ah, fuck. Who am I kidding?!? I can't stop her now.... but I can distract her!'  
He thought with renewed confidence. 'It'll be the end of Chizuru, but screw it. Sacrifices have to be  
made for the name of peace.'

Just as Ichigo was about to sacrifice the classroom lesbian for the greater good, however, disaster struck.

A hand patted his back and Ichigo turned to see who it was, "Yo, IIIIchigoooo!"

Oh damn, not now. "What Keigo?"

"Just wanted to talk to you a bit, we are friends right? Now, you just have to tell me, man." Hen then lowered  
his voice as he glanced past Ichigo, who knew he was looking in the direction of Tatsuki and Rukia.  
"What's it like being with two girls?" He gave Ichigo a thumbs up and a knowing wink,  
"Don't think I haven't noticed anything, man. You gotta give me the details."

Ichigo resisted the urge to smash right now, he had more important issues to deal with, "Wouldn't know.  
Go 'way, Keigo."

"C'mon Ichigo, you keep disappearing all the time now and are pretty much always with one or  
the other now. I'd be surprised if no one else in the class knows by now. So spill it man."

"Get your mind outta the gutter, Keigo. And beat it. I got shit to do."

"Or join?", he grinned.

Ichigo blinked, confused, "What"?

Keigo pointed to where the girls had been, and Ichigo scowled darkly, "Your girls just left  
together, with Tatsuki hauling her." Keigo's nose started to drip and he gave Ichigo two  
thumbs up, "**YOU LUCKY BASTARD, YOU!!**"

*BAM!*

Ichigo retracted his fist from Keigo's face at that, "**FUCK**!" He cried, startling everyone  
else in the class before running out of the room.

----------==========----------

Rukia grunted as Tatsuki pushed her back into the wall. _Danmit_, she thought as  
Tatsuki's grip tightened on her shoulder, _What's this about?_

"Now", Tatsuki growled. "I think it's time we have our little 'talk' to which you leave here one of two ways;  
On your feat in defeat, or in a body bag the same way."

Rukia smiled as demurely as she could considering the pain her shoulder was in, "B-but Arisawa-san...  
why are you acting like this? What did I do to... to offend you?"

"You know good and damn well," Tatsuki then released Rukia and took two steps back.

Rukia rubbed her neck and smiled as best she could. "I-I'm sorry, but I don't know what you mean."

"Cut. The. Bullshit."

Rukia blinked.

"Ichigo."

Rukia blinked again.

"I know", Tatsuki proclaimed, leaving no room for misinterpretation from this girl.

_She knows_. Rukia sighed._ Guess it can't be helped then_, Rukia then raised her eyes to look into  
Tatsuki's. Tatsuki's own eyes widened at the change in demeanor in them.

"So...", Rukia then smiled, "You know, huh?"

Tatsuki shook off the surprise of the smaller girl's 180 degree change in personality before she glared  
right back at Rukia, "Yeah, that's right. I know. So I'm going to tell you this once, you bitch.  
Leave. Him. Be."

Rukia crossed her arms and sighed, lowering her head once more, "Huh, guess it can't be helped then."

Tatsuki eyes took in her targets change in body language again. No longer the kind, sugary, demure girl  
the class had seen. She was now staring at someone who knew how to fight. Someone who understood  
how to get rough.

This bitch had played them all...

"It's too bad," Rukia began, her arms unfolding, "But Ichigo will understand when I explain it to him"

Tatsuki's hands balled into fists and she slowly spread her feet apart. "Explain what to him?"

"No point explaining it to you," Rukia said as her hand reached behind her, "You won't remember it anyway."

So. A challenge. "Really?!"

"Yes. I need Ichigo. Can't let him run around with you like this now, can I?"

"You. Need. Ichigo?!?" Tatsuki growled, her knuckles cracking as her fists tightened.

"Yes, he's been very useful right now, which is why I have to do now to keep it that way."  
A soft click could be heard behind Rukia.

Tatsuki cracked her neck and began to charge towards the smaller girl, "Ok bitch, what  
do you want on your tombstone?"

"**STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!**"

Tatsuki stopped and blinked as Ichigo suddenly tacked Rukia to the ground.  
The two rolling for a bit before stoping with Ichigo face up on his back and Rukia  
atop his chest. Ichigo was panting heavily and sweating bullets as he laid  
there.

"Don-"::gasp::"Don't-"::gasp::"kill..."::gasp::

Tatsuki blinked again before storming up to the downed pair, "Ichigo? What the hell?"  
She then took note of their positions and before Ichigo could blink hauled Rukia off the ground  
and threw her several feet away. Tatsuki took note of a Pez Dispenser that came to a stop a  
few feet away from where Rukia landed. Unbidden, she started to laugh.

"A Pez Dispenser...". Tatsuki then firmly placed herself between Rukia and her  
boyfriend and began to advance once again. "You were going to fight me with a freakin'  
Pez Dispenser?"

Rukia cursed inwardly, _Damnit, I grabbed the wrong thing! Now what?_  
Just as Tatsuki was about to make her move she felt herself being held from behind.

"Tatsuki, don't!"

Tatsuki began to fight to free herself from her boyfriend's grasp, "Let go of me, Ichigo! I'm doing this for you! For us!"

"I know, but I can't let you get involved!" Unnoticed to both Rukia had gotten up and  
was now reaching behind her back once again.

"Why are you protecting her?!? I'm your girlfriend!"

"**IT ISN'T THAT SIMPLE!**" he shouted.

"**YES IT IS!! GODDAMNIT ICHIGO, LEMMIEGO!!**"

"**TATSUKI PLEASE JUST-**" He buried his face in her back as he was about to lift her up but  
stopped as he heard a click before his girlfriend went limp in his arms.

"...Tatsuki?"

Ichigo lifted his face up to find Rukia slowly putting her mind device away and realized what had happened.  
His own eyes began to twitch as the fatigue he felt earlier was blown away. "**GODDAMMIT, YOU  
DIDN'T NEED TO DO THAT!!!**"

"Yes I did. What did I tell you about what we do Ichigo?" She replied calmly as she  
put the Kikouchikan back into her pocket, Ichigo glared at her as she walked over  
and picked up the Pez dispenser that was lying on the floor, "She told me she knows.  
And we can't have that, now can we?"

Ichigo growled as Rukia gave him a level look, "She wasn't even... look, I don't care anymore!  
Don't use that damn thing again, **GOT IT?!?**" His hold on Tatsuki loosened as she slowly began  
to drift back towards consciousness, "Tatsuki? Tatsuki? Hey c'mon hon, wake up."

"Mmmmn... Ichigo? Wha?" She blinked a few times a smiled at him, feeling their position.  
"Hey", she said regaining her strength and kissing him.

As sweet as it was Ichigo tried to keep his feeling of nausea down at this turn of events.  
_Dammit I'm her boyfriend! I should have protected her better than this!_ Swallowing down  
his nausea and feelings of self loathing as best he could for now, he managed a fake smile at  
his girlfriend, "Hey yourself, girl. Picked a weird place to have a nap at, y'know."

"Nap?" She turned, and saw that Rukia was with them. Her mind whirled as she noticed Rukia's  
detached gaze on her._W-what happened? Why am I here? Did we-_ Her thoughts stopped as  
Ichigo steadied her.

"C'mon, let go eat ok? I know Yamada-sensei can be boring and all but knocking out here?  
You need some Georgia in your system or something."

"Y-Yeah". Tatsuki blinked a few times, reorienting herself. Again she caught Rukia looking at her.  
_Something happened... Did we fight? I don't feel hurt..._

"Kurosaki-kun?"

His eyes came up to Rukia's, letting her know he was not overly thrilled with her at the moment,  
"Yeah, Kuchiki? What is it?"

Rukia smiled demurely, "I need to speak to you about something after you're done with  
Arisawa-san. Meet me outside?"

Ichigo smirked. "Yeah. I need to speak to ya too".

Rukia nodded and clapped her hands together, "Great! I'll see you later then!"  
she stated enthusiastically before walking back to class. Ichigo let off an ice cold  
glare as she walked off.

_Yeah_, he thought darkly, _We're gonna have a reaaaal long talk._

----------==========----------

As he walked to the courtyard, one statement could be used to sum up his current state of mind. Anger.  
Anger at Rukia for jumping the gun... for just wiping Tatsuki's mind as if it was the end all be all solution  
to the problem. And totally misreading the situation as well. Although she wasn't the only person he was  
directing his anger at as well. No, he was angry at himself, for failing Tatsuki again. For letting thing get to  
that point that she was threatning to beat the shinigami into oblivion for even looking at him wrong.

For failing to live up to his name to one of the people who... who meant everything to him.

Yes, he thought as his frown darkened at what had transpired a few minutes ago, This talk is long overdue.

He arrived at the courtyard to find Rukia standing and giving him a cool gaze, and Ichigo's  
irritation reached a new all-time high. _Look at her. Acting so goddamned high and mighty.  
Freakin' chibi-gami..._

Rukia sighed as her eyes met Ichigo's and crossed her arms, "Ok, let's get this over with."

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched at that, although the substitute shinigami never noticed,  
"What the hell was that Rukia?!?"

"Keeping us from having further complications. She figured out about us, and you know we can't have that.  
It's for her own safety."

"She wasn't...." Ichigo palmed his face and let out a breath irritably before turning back to Rukia,  
"She wasn't talking about that, idiot!!"

Rukia raised an eyebrow and Ichigo' temper breifly flared at the seemingly 'what are you, stupid?' look she gave him.  
"Really now? Did you hear her? She knows?"

"She thought you were blackmailing me!!! God, if you two would've calmed down for a sec, I could've explained the  
whole thing!!"

Rukia sighed, "If you didn't notice it wasn't me who needed to be calmed down."

"But you still jumped to conclusions and just went all MIB on her!" Ichigo huffed and turned away from her,  
"God what a mess..." he muttered to himself.

"MIB?" Rukia muttered.

Ichigo ignored her, "Y'know not everything's about shinigami and hollows. I'f you'd ease up on the paranoia, you'd see that."  
He turned to her, "Goddamnit, what the fuck's wrong with you?!? Not everyone in this town's your goddamned enemy!!!"

Rukia scowled at that, "Watch your mouth, Ichigo."

"**FUCK YOU!!!**" Ichigo shouted, taking Rukia back a bit, "You just wiped my girlfriend's memory for nothing  
this time!" He walked up to Rukia, inching his face down to hers, "This time, you're gonna listen to me and  
listen good goddamnit!"

"Listen? Listen?!? Did you not hear her?!?" Rukia shot back. "She knew!"

"Are you deaf?!?" Ichigo retorted, "I told you it had nothing to do with shinigami, ya stupid chibi-gami!!!"

Rukia raised an eyebrow and Ichigo flared once more at the seemingly 'what are you, stupid?'  
look she gave him, "It sure sounded that way to me."

"Then use that thing three feet above your ass called a brain," Ichigo growled.

"It's kind of hard to do that when your girlfriend has me pressed up against a wall threatening me."

Ichigo let off a breath and turned away from Rukia. He had forgotten about that.

"From what she said, she knows. If you want to keep her safe you know she can't know of anything we do."

Ichigo ran a hand through his hair and sighed, beginning to cool down, "Yeah, I get that... but if I'm gonna  
continue doing this thing for you, I gotta be able to trust you for real."

"And how have my actions caused you not to? Have I not been honest with you since the beginning?"

"I mean that I have to know that you won't jump off the handle like you did. That you can trust my decisions and what I say."

"I fail to see how it is that I 'jumped the handle'," Rukia crossed her arms and turned to her left side,  
but kept looking at Ichigo under hooded eyes. "Your girlfriend attacked, said that she knew about us,  
and I fixed it. She knows nothing now and our secret is safe. I fail to see what is wrong with that."

"But she doesn't know the secret. How many times do I have to say that?!?"

"And how many times do I have to tell you that she pretty much blurted it out to me?"

Ichigo groaned, "God, you're not listening!!"

Rukia's eye twitched. "Then tell me exactly how it is that I did not hear what she was clearly screaming at me?"

"Because she can see sprits as clearly as I can! If it was about the shinigami stuff she would've busted us as soon as she saw us!"

Rukia blinked at that, "What?"

Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, remember the first time you erased her mind? She was getting on me about that."

Rukia looked surprised and Ichigo let himself smirk internally at that, "You forgot that already? That's why you should  
use that brain of yours more often. And to get started with you remembering how to use it, THIS is what we're going to do."

Rukia frowned as Ichigo actually grew a smirk at that statement.

"Rule number one!" Ichigo began, extending his index finger for emphasis, "This thing is an equal partnership.  
In order to make it work, we gotta be able to trust each other fully."

Rukia nodded, "Fine, I can agree to that."

"Rule number two! Stop with the paranoia. Not everyone is out to get us."

Rukia rolled her eyes inwardly at that, but nodded all the same.

"And rule number three!" Ichigo smirked as he walked "Pay attention, cause this one's the most important."

Ichigo then quickly grabbed the kikonchan out of Rukia's shirt pocket, surprising the girl, "Hey, what are you-?"

Before she could finish, Ichigo opened his hand holding the device and clapped his hands together as hard as  
he could, smashing the device into pieces. He looked down at Rukia before turning his hands downward,  
dropping the devices remains onto the ground. He then stomped on the remains of the tool, grinding  
them into the ground. Rukia stared at the remains of the device in shock.

When he finished, he gave Rukia a cold, determined look, "No. More. Memory wipes."

Rukia looked back up at Ichigo, shock still etched upon her face, "Wha... what have you done?"

Ichigo grunted and crossed his arms, "Emphasizing rule three."

"Bu...but what if we're caught?"

Ichigo shrugged, "Then we'll have to be careful won't we?" He then turned and walked back to class,  
"Better get back to class, chibi-gami! Don't wanna be late."

Rukia watched him walk off, still unable to comprehend what just happened, "Guess I'll have to go see _him_ again..."  
Still in a daze, she followed Ichigo back to class.

----------==========----------

End Chapter 3

Huh, Guess who's back?


	4. She Has A Mean Left Hook

**_Bleach is created by Tite Kubo and distributed by Weekly Shonen Jump,  
Shueisha, Studio Pierrot, TV Tokyo, Adult Swim, & Viz Media LLC._**

No permission has been obtained from any of the copyright holders for the use of the  
characters and situations from this series. This work of fiction is not for profit and not  
intended to infringe on copyrighted intellectual property in any significant or harmful  
way.

Should Kubo, or any of his affiliates, request it, this not-for-profit story will  
be taken off line as quickly as possible.

Any original characters, however, are owned by me. If you steal them, I shall hunt you  
down and skewer your nuts. You want to use them? Just ask me first as I'll probably say  
yes.

Feedback is encouraged. That's why I write. Also for the cookies.

Flames are pointless, as the author is a flaming retard

....hold up, that's not what I meant. Uh, let's just start the story.

* * *

"You two.... how dare you!"

Tatsuki glared at the... thing that was floating before her. It had  
the body of a caterpillar and a skull-like face only a mother  
could love. She stood in front of 'Ichigo' protectively, arms outstretched  
and ready to protect him. 'I got no clue what's goin' on here," she thought  
to herself, 'But dead men tell no tales like they say.'

"What're you so mad about ugly?" She asked. She grew a smirk  
up at the monster in an act of defiance, "You could go on a diet  
as far as I can see. He did ya a favor."

"Nee-san..." 'Ichigo' whispered in awe.

The hollow growled in rage at her, "Got a smart mouth, huh? Let's  
see how smart you are... IN MY BELLY,GIRL!!"

That said, the hollow extended it's tendril toward Tatsuki, and all she  
could do was gasp at how fast it was coming towards her body.  
'Is... is this how I'm... I'm gonna die?'

As the tendril continued to make it's way toward her body, her mind  
couldn't help but wonder at how things turned out like this.

To answer that burning question, let us travel back to a simpler time.  
Where peace was the norm, and there were no soul eating monsters of  
death. Let us travel back... to a one week prior...

* * *

Ghostface211 presents

A Bleach Story

Stranger Than Fiction

Chapter Four: She Has A Mean Left Hook

* * *

She had never been so slow to pick up on things before, but that could  
be excused; while her life had never been exactly predictable, it had  
always had a kind of order to it. Be it in the slums of the  
Rukongai, the halls of the shinigami academy, or the compound  
of the Kuchiki clan, there was either a spoken or unspoken  
order to be had. Rules to follow, things to never be questioned.  
So how was it that a boy that had barely live a fraction of her years  
was throwing things she had been taught on their side with  
casual disregard?

She looked to her right to see said boy giving her a cold look  
and almost frowned in response. Did he honestly think she  
was going to wipe his lover's mind right here in front of  
everyone? What right gives this... insolent child the means  
to question someone his senior?

She then watched as the boy grimaced and turned back to  
his lover, who had given him a solid elbow his mid section,  
forcing his attention back to her. Apparently, she hadn't  
forgotten her possessiveness of her young charge. She sighed  
again as she remembered their last encounter.

Tatsuki Arisawa. The girl came off as loud and demanding. Clingy  
and jealous for her charge and her spending time. Given  
the nature of their work, she couldn't deny that a portion  
of that was her fault. But even so, it was for her own good.

She sighed to herself as she began to eat at her own lunch.  
The interactions of the human world was growing more  
and more complex by the day.

But at least the food was good.

* * *

Ichigo groaned as he entered his room. Somehow he had gotten  
through another day of dealing with Tatsuki not intensively  
confronting Rukia, and once again he was unsure as to how he  
should deal with it. One hand, it was nice to not have his  
girlfriend not acting all territorial and paranoid about Rukia.  
In fact it was borderline refreshing. The one thing that kept him  
from fully enjoying the break, was how she had gotten that way in  
the first place.

'My fault. It's my own damn fault.' He growled at himself internally.  
He had failed to live up to his name once more and as a result he couldn't  
protect one of the people that was precious to him.

'Damn it, If I had just... done something. Something more to stop  
chibi-gami.' He sighed again ,"This sucks."

He shucked his backpack by the door and sat on his bed, cradling his  
head as he looked down at the floor, 'At least I did something to stop  
it from happening again. But... that doesn't make this any easier to  
swallow.'

His closet door slid open, and Ichigo allowed himself to look up  
and frowned at the person inside it.

Rukia sighed and looked at her charge, "What is it Ichigo? Don't tell  
me you're still mad at me about that incident."

He snorted, "Wouldn't be mad if it never happened in the first place."

"And I told you that it had to be done".

His frown deepened, "No, It didn't. I told you she didn't know about  
any of that shinigami stuff. She was just bein' jealous."

"So you say."

He snorted again and turned away, "Whatever. It's not like you'd  
listen ta me anyway."

Rukia shrugged. Still in the closet, as she watched her charge.

"It'd just be nice if you trusted me on thing like this. I mean,  
I've known Tatsuki all my life, I'd think I'd know better than  
you if she found out 'bout 'that'."

"And what would you do if she did find out about that?"

Ichigo blinked, turning back to the shinigami with a look of  
confusion, "Huh?"

She walked out of the closet and stood in front of Ichigo, forcing  
the teen to look up at her, "I asked you, if your lover had found  
out what you had been keeping from her what would you do? You know  
what we do has to be kept secret. And you want to protect her from  
this, so what would you do?"

He leaned back on his bed and closed his eyes, letting out a breath  
of air, "Put me on the spot huh?"

His eyes opened, staring at the wall, "I hate lying to Tatsuki, and at  
the same time I know that she'd keep this a secret."

Rukia said nothing, allowing her substitute to continue.

"But at the same time... I keep thinking about the look on her face  
when we dealt with Inoue's brother." His fist clenched and grimaced  
as he remembered the feelings he had when Sora had revealed that he  
had 'killed' Tatsuki. He rose from his bed, looking Rukia in her  
eyes, "I know she'd think I was coddling her. Hell, she'd probably  
whomp my ass 'cause of it. But... at the same time, I know she  
can't protect herself from hollows and such. Maybe if she could, it'd  
be different." He chuckled, "I don't know what I'd do, but there's  
gotta be a better way than just fryin' her brains."

Rukia sighed, "I don't know how many times I have to tell you, you  
don't have to worry about that."

Ichigo snorted, "Damn straight, I don't. No more memory wipes  
'member?"

She frowned, "In any case... if there where a way to keep her out of  
our secret and not erase her memory, you would take it?"

His eyebrow raised at that, "Yeah. Why, you got one?"

"Perhaps..."

He frowned, "Then why didn't ya use it before, chibi-gami?"

"It's... complicated."

He snorted and turned away from the shinigami, "Just when I'm about to  
give you some credit, you go and disappoint me again."

Rukia sputtered, "You jerk!"

He waived her off with disinterest, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. You might wanna  
go back into the closet, 'fore Yuzu or someone comes in and gets the  
wrong idea."

Rukia snorted and walked back into the closet, leaving Ichigo alone  
in his room with his thoughts.

'I'm sorry Tatsuki,' he thought and sighed audibly, 'But I'm gonna  
have to keep you in the dark for a bit longer.' He chucked internally,  
'Hope you don't kick my ass to badly if you find out.'

* * *

  
The first thing Tatsuki noticed when she came to was that her body felt heavy.  
Absurdly so. She tried to move one of her arms and could barely wiggle a finger.

'Uggh... what happened to me,' she thought. Her vision was blurry as her eyes opened,  
struggling to take in her surroundings. 'Where's Yuzu-chan? Karin?'

It felt like her eyes were taking an eternity to come into focus. But from what she could  
make out, it looked as if she had managed to get herself entangled in a war zone.  
'Damn it... it even hurts to blink...' Her eyes then landed on what appeared to be a tuff of  
orange hair, '...Ichigo? Is... is that you Ichigo?'

She waged war once more with her body as she commanded to turn to the sight of  
the orange hair, but her body refused to move, 'Damn it all... this stupid body...  
why won't you move?'

"It's all right."

She blinked slowly at the unfamiliar female voice. 'Who said that?' is what she wanted to say  
but her vocal cords, like the rest of her body, refused to comply.

"Please don't struggle. Everything is all right."

Though unfamiliar to her ears, Tatsuki found the words soothing feeling her eyelids  
droop as she let her tiredness begin to take over.

"Ichi...Ichigo. Is... is he...?"

"He will be fine." The voice reassured her. "Rest now."

"But before that..."

Tatsuki was surprised at the new male voice and was further surprised as  
someone held her eyelids open and she saw a strange toy encompass her vision.

"Say cheese!"

'Cheese?' she thought to herself in confusion before an explosion of  
colors consumed her sight.

* * *

  
Tatsuki's eyes shot open as she awoke. She groaned deeply as darkness  
surrounded her vision. "Damn freaky dreams..." she muttered before  
her eyes closed and she fell back into slumber land.

* * *

"Now", Tatsuki growled. "I think it's time we have our little 'talk' to  
which you leave here one of two ways; On your feat in defeat, or in a  
body bag the same way."

Rukia smiled as demurely, "B-but Arisawa-san... why are you acting like  
this? What did I do to... to offend you?"

"You know good and damn well," Tatsuki then released Rukia and took two  
steps back.

Rukia rubbed her neck and smiled as best she could. "I-I'm sorry, but I  
don't know what you mean."

"It's too bad," Rukia began, her arms unfolding, "But Ichigo will  
understand when I explain it to him"

Tatsuki's hands balled into fists and she slowly spread her feet apart.  
"Explain what to him?"

"No point explaining it to you," Rukia said as her hand reached behind her,  
"You won't remember it anyway."

"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!"

Tatsuki stopped and blinked as Ichigo suddenly tacked Rukia to the ground.  
The two rolling for a bit before stopping with Ichigo face up on his back and  
Rukia atop his chest. Ichigo was panting heavily and sweating bullets as he laid  
there.

"Don-"::gasp::"Don't-"::gasp::"kill..."::gasp::

"Tatsuki, don't!"

Tatsuki began to fight to free herself from her boyfriend's grasp, "Let go  
of me, Ichigo! I'm doing this for you! For us!"

"I know, but I can't let you get involved!" Unnoticed to both Rukia had gotten  
up and was now reaching behind her back once again.

"Why are you protecting her?!? I'm your girlfriend!"

"IT ISN'T THAT SIMPLE!" he shouted.

"YES IT IS!! GODDAMMIT ICHIGO, LEMMIEGO!!"

* * *

Tatsuki's eyes shot open as she awoke once more. Frowning once more  
as she awoke before the sun did. 'What the hell was that about?  
Why was I trying to deck Kuchiki? And why... why did Ichigo try to  
stop me?'

She frowned as her dreams were leaving her more and more confused by  
the night. There was only one thing she knew for certain, "...This  
means something."

And by hook or crook, she was going to figure it out.

* * *

  
**_One Week Later...._**

"What are you doing Ichi-ni?"

Ichigo jumped a bit in surprise and turned to see Yuzu eying him  
curiously, "I'm just making breakfast."

Yuzu blinked, "But you never make breakfast."

Ichigo chuckled nervously, "Well, I just feel like it today.  
Not that big a deal, right?"

"I guess not..." Yuzu sighed, "But I like making breakfast for everyone."  
Yuzu then paused. "Ichi-ni... you don't like my cooking anymore", she asked,  
her eyes watering.

"Nononoonnonooo!" Ichigo waived his hands franticly in denial. "I love your  
cooking! It's the best! I just wanted to cook something for myself! Give you  
a break today, that's all!"

She sniffed and rubbed her nose with her hand. "You sure? You've never done  
anything like this before".

Ichigo smiled and patted her sister's head, "Sure I'm sure. C'mon now, I'm sorry  
I made you think I didn't like your cooking. Ok?"

"Ok", she said, wiping her eyes.

"That's my little sister. Go ahead and get dressed, all right?"

Yuzu nodded and headed back upstairs. When he was sure she was out of sight,  
Ichigo glowered at the meal. "Freakin' chibi-gami. Almost got me in trouble again."

As Ichigo put the finishing touches on the meal, he sighed as he wondered to himself  
for the ninth time why he was doing this. While the mind wipe was still fresh in his  
mind and his words rang as true as before, he realized that the issue of trust was a  
two way street. Perhaps that was what drove him to do this. To show that he was  
willing to show a bit of trust in the hopes that Rukia would finally drop that all  
knowing act and be more trustful of what he knew in this world and how to act.

And hopefully, avoid a mess like last week.

'She'd better appreciate this too. Troublesome midget.' he thought as he put the  
meal on a tray and proceeded to his room. He let off a short grunt and knocked on  
his closet, "Oy, Rukia! I brought you some grub! You better be decent!"

No answer. He frowned. 'Hope I don't regret this.'

He opened his closet door to find it devoid of Rukia. His frowned deepened at the sight,  
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

* * *

Rukia paused as she felt a slight chill up her shoulder. Barely fighting off the urge to sneeze. Odd.

She turned to look behind her, seeing no one. Sensing no reiatsu, she continued onward towards her destination.  
'That boy better appreciate this,' she grumbled. Her pace picking up slightly.

She found herself thinking about recent events as she made her way to her current supplier of the  
goods she had been using during her stay in the human world, including the gigai she was wearing.  
'That was really expensive', she thought remembering Ichigo's crushing of her memory wiper.

* * *

"In any case... if there where a way to keep her out of  
our secret and not erase her memory, you would take it?"

His eyebrow raised at that, "Yeah. Why, you got one?"

"Perhaps..."

He frowned, "Then why didn't ya use it before, chibi-gami?"

"It's... complicated."

* * *

If by complicated, you meant that it hadn't been delivered until now.

The shinigami sighed again, as some of the complications she was going through right now could have  
been avoided had she received the item earlier. But then again, hindsight was twenty/twenty.

'This thing is an equal partnership. In order to make it work, we gotta be able to trust each other  
fully.'

"But the sad truth is... there are some things that just can't be shared.... even in an equal  
partnership." Rukia whispered softly to herself.

* * *

  
Before she could finish, Ichigo opened his hand holding the device and clapped his hands together as  
hard as he could, smashing the device into pieces. He looked down at Rukia before turning his hands  
downward, dropping the devices remains onto the ground. He then stomped on the remains of the tool,  
grinding them into the ground. Rukia stared at the remains of the device in shock.

When he finished, he gave Rukia a cold, determined look, "No. More. Memory wipes."

* * *

'Lovelorn fool, she thought, 'There's a reason for those things, you know. I know you're worried  
about your lover... and if you wouldn't let your passions cloud your judgment... you'd see that.'

"Although... I am to blame for some of it." she whispered to herself. She frowned as she looked up,  
noting that she had arrived at her destination, "But perhaps... this will alleviate some of it."

* * *

The school bell rang, signifying the end of the  
class, and the beginning of yet another lunch period.  
As the various students either arranged their desks to sit  
with their friends or left the room to buy their school's  
provided lunches, Ichigo sat, looking out at the window  
at the skyline frowning. Rukia had once again disappeared  
from his closet and had yet to be seen at school. The last  
time that happened, Tatsuki had almost handed the  
shinigami girl her butt and got a third mind wipe  
for her trouble.

'And ever since she's been gone today.... I've had a...  
restless feeling. Like something big is gonna happen and  
chibi-gami's at the center of it.'

Ichigo was shaken out of his thoughts as he felt a  
hard slap on his back. He groaned, as the person  
walked into view, "Dangit, Tatsuki... what the hell?!?"

Tatsuki grinned at Ichigo, "I could ask you the same thing, babe.  
What's with that look on your face?"

Ichigo shifted in his seat, looking away from her, "'S nothin."

Tatsuki frowned, "Ichigo..."

Ichigo shrugged and took out his lunch. "It's nothing, really".

Tatsuki eyed her boyfriend warily, "If you're sure...."

Ichigo nodded, "I guess I'm just having an off day or somethin'. C'mon sit down."  
He gestured to an open desk near him. "I'd feel better if a pretty lady like you'd  
share your lunch with me."

Tatsuki's face split into a grin. "You know every now and then you do manage  
to mumble out the right thing". She sat down and pulled out her own bento.

Ichigo couldn't help but grin at that, "I aim to please, hon."

Tatsuki nodded and Ichigo allowed himself to begin to relax a little.  
How long had it been since he had allowed himself to simply enjoy  
Tatsuki's company? Without chibi-gami there to make Tatsuki feel  
paranoid? It may have been weeks, but to the substitute shinigami,  
it felt like much longer.

'Ah what the hell,' He thought. Shrugging internally as he started eating his bento,  
'Might as well enjoy it while it lasts.'

"Good Afternoon, Kuchiki-san!"

Ichigo swallowed and frowned, 'Should've known better.'

He kept his head down and finished swallowing but allowed his eyes to track  
up and take a glance at his girlfriend.

He saw her eye twitch.

'....Shit,' Ichigo resisted the urge to cry. 'Why do I tempt fate like this?'

If he was paying a bit more attention, he would've praised Tatsuki for showing some  
restraint for once, as she simply settled for glaring at Rukia and not repeat the incident  
of three days ago and charge Rukia.

"Excuse me Kurosaki-kun..."

Ichigo knew he would regret this, but also knew that this was inevitable.  
He looked up at Rukia to see her in full-on false nice girl mode and frowned  
deeper, "Yeah, what?"

Rukia continued unfazed, "May I have a word with you? In private?"

Ichigo blanched as he suddenly caught Tatsuki choking on her food.

"I can't believe she said that!"

"Right in front of Arisawa, too! How bold!"

Ichigo groaned as a few of his more gossip-prone classmates made their  
wrong assumptions. 'Thanks for the gas, girls. I needed that little fire to  
be an in inferno.'

Rukia blinked as Tatsuki's reaction, "Arisawa-san, are you all right?"

Tatsuki coffed for a bit as her throat cleared. Regaining her composure and  
breathing, she turned to Rukia, her death glare in place, "Oh, I'm fine.  
Just wondering if you've got a death wish or something..."

Rukia raised a hand to her mouth, palm outward, and tilted her head slightly.  
"Death wish? Whatever do you mean?"

Tatsuki blinked, "Are you serious? After what you just said to my boyfriend?  
Right in front of me?"

Rukia blinked, her hand still at her mouth, though her eyes showed a bit of  
bafflement. "Is there any other way?"

Ichigo sighed. Why does everyone jump to the wrong conclusions these days?  
"Tatsuki... don't make this any worse than it has to be."

Tatsuki turned to Ichigo and frowned, "Not now babe, momma's talking to  
Skanky McSlutslut."

Ichigo's head thudded onto the desk, hands pulling at his hair.

"As for you, bitch," Tatsuki growled, "Whatever you've got to say to MY man,  
you can say to everyone."

Rukia stared at her for a moment before continuing. "I just wanted to give him  
something, but it's rather private", she held a hand up, index finger outstretched ,  
as if sharing an idea.

".....Private?"

"Yes. Because of that, I need him alone, "She then grabbed the closest of Ichigo's  
arms, "So let's go, Ichigo".

Before Ichigo could protest, Tatsuki grabbed his other arm, "Leggo of him, bitch."

"I'm sorry", Rukia groaned out, now pulling Ichigo with more effort, "but I  
just need him for a bit. You can....have him back...later".

Tatsuki pulled him back towards her with a little more effort, "Like... hell...skank!"

Ichigo just stood there, swaying back and forth. And though he was in pain he  
kinda hoped he'd be pulled into two. It'd be less painful.

It continued like this for a while. The class having stopped eating to watch the  
impromptu tug-of-war between the girls. Some where even placing bets on the  
outcome.

All things however, must come to an end.

Rukia tugged at Ichigo's arm once again before she blinked and looked behind  
Tatsuki, "Isn't that Honsho-san with Inoue-san?"

The result was obvious.

Tatsuki let go of Ichigo's arm and turned to find the class lesbian sitting down  
away from the battle.

In front of Orihime.

Unconsciously, Tatsuki charged the girl, grabbing her and slamming her into the  
floor with a German suplex that would have done Karl Gotch proud.

"K.O.!" cried a non-descript student.

Tatsuki let go of Chizuru's waist and rose up. Dusting her hands and frowning  
at the girl, "Too close... that was too close."

"Ummm.... Tatsuki-san..."

Sucking in a breath, she turned. "What?"

Tatsuki then blanched as she saw the person she had saved was not one Inoue Orihime,  
but rather their smaller, more timid friend Ogawa Michiru.

Michiru blushed and looked down at her desk, "Did... did you really need to go  
that far, Tatsuki-san?"

Tatsuki frowned and looked around, noting that Orihime wasn't even in the classroom.  
There was something else she noticed.

Rukia and Ichigo where gone.

A vein popped on her forehead as she glared at the space her boyfriend and the skank  
used to occupy, "...That fuckin' bitch."

That said she stormed out of the classroom, a bevy of students making way for the martial artist.

Hell hath no fury, as they say.

* * *

Ichigo sighed as he entered the courtyard, running a hand through his hair.  
'Tatsuki's gotta be pissed.' He thought. Frowning as Rukia pulled something  
out of her back pocket. 'So this'd better be good shrimp. I'd better not die for nothin'.'

"Here," She tossed him a small object and he plucked it out of mid-air.  
He blinked at the object. It looked like Rukia's pez dispenser save that it  
said 'SOUL CANDY' in English and that it had a duck's head instead of  
a rabbit's head for the top.

He raised an eyebrow at Rukia, "And this is....?"

"It's a dispenser for substitute soul pills called gikongan," Rukia began as she  
crossed her arms and eyed her sub coolly. "Keep them on you at all times."

"Is this why you were gone this mornin'?"

Rukia nodded, "After our.... talk, I realized that you could use these."

Ichigo looked down on the dispenser again, "So... these help me how  
exactly?"

"Look, when you swallow a pill, a temporary soul enters your body  
and pushes your soul out. The reason I'm giving this to you is two-fold.  
So you can become a soul reaper when I'm not around and give  
you some cover with your human friends. Instead of lying around like  
a corpse, your body will be animated and no one will know you were gone."

Ichigo nodded, impressed. "Good thinkin, squirt."

POW!

Ichigo groaned as Rukia removed her fist from his gut, "Goddammit  
chibi-gami, what the hell?"

Rukia glared at her charge, "Just a reminder to stop making comments  
about my height."

Ichigo snorted as he patted his stomach, "Yeah, yeah, whatever.  
No need to get your panties in a bunch over it." He frowned,  
"Last time I complement you." He muttered under his breath.

"So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and try it!"

Ichigo looked back at her, hand held in the stop position,  
"Hold up a sec, Rukia I got some questions."

Rukia groaned in response, "Oh come on, It's not that hard. Just pop  
the duck's head and a pill pops out. Swallow it and you'll be a  
shinigami."

Ichigo shrugged, "Why's it a duck?"

Rukia gave him a flat stare, "Are you serious?"

"Hey, I'm just thinkin' out loud. Don't min-"

"I mean you should be grateful you got one so soon in the first place!"  
Rukia interrupted, "These things are in high demand, and that's the  
second most popular! I tried my best to get you that adorable little  
Chappy rabbit on such short notice!!"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, "You... wanted the bunny?"

Rukia flustered, "WHAT'S IT TO YOU?!? SO I LIKE BUNNIES?!?  
SO WHAT?!?"

Ichigo snorted, "Whoa, chill. It's not that big a deal." He eyed the Soul  
Candy again, "Just pop one in huh?"

That said he opened his mouth and squeezed the duck's head, forcing a  
pill into his mouth. Swallowing, he has surprised to find himself looking  
down at his body slumped over on the rail neat the walkway.  
"Holy crap on toast, it worked?!?"

Her composure regained, Rukia nodded confidently," And look, now  
you won't be lying around like a corpse!"

Ichigo turned and saw his body moving on it's own accord. His eyebrows  
rose in surprise as his body turned to look at him. 'Crap, this is surreal.'  
Ichigo thought.

Then his body did something to make the moment even more surreal.

It saluted Ichigo and spoke.

"Greetings, friend! My name's Kurosaki Ichigo! Will you be my friend?"

A pause.

Ichigo gave his body a flat stare, "What...the fuck... is this?!?"

"Impressive right?" Rukia smiled confidently as she looked over his body,  
"Designed by one hundred and eight of our top scientists to have the ideal  
personality! No one will be suspicious!"

Ichigo's eye twitched as he could swear he see sparkles over 'his' head.

Beep!

Rukia pulled out what looked to be a cell phone and smiled, "Oh great, an order!  
Talk about perfect timing, you can go fight the hollow while he takes your place!"

Ichigo turned back to Rukia, disbelief plain on his face, "Are you shittin' me?!?  
Ain't no way in hell this'll-"

He never finished as Rukia dragged him away from the courtyard, "Oh stop  
complaining! You've got work to do!"

Ichigo pointed at 'himself' "Look 'me'! You best get your ass to class and lay low!  
And don't say nuthin' to nobody! Especially Tatsuki!"

'Ichigo' simply waived the pair off, "Don't worry master! Come back safe!!"

He continued to wave until the duo faded out of his line of sight. As he stopped  
waiving, a dark smile crepe across 'Ichigo's' face

"Take your time, 'master'."

* * *

Tatsuki stormed into the courtyard, her anger at Rukia beginning to  
reach a fever pitch. Bad enough that the twerp was once again  
trying to steal her man, she had allowed herself to fall for the oldest  
trick in the damn book!

Oh she was soooo gonna kill that little bitch.

When she spotted her boyfriend, she was surprised to find him alone.  
Squatting and doing warm up stretches. Her eyes narrowed, Not like  
Berry-tan is making matters better, she thought.

"Hey Ichigo!"

'Ichigo' fell down on his bottom and looked around  
startled, "Hah?!? Wha?!?"

Tatsuki walked up to him, her arms crossed and glared down at  
him, "So... what did the little slut want with you?"

'Ichigo' winced as he rubbed his head and looked up towards Tatsuki.  
He sighed internally. If she wasn't so pissed at this guy he was in,  
she'd probably be a real cutie. Quite a waste of anger, "Hm? Slut?"

Tatsuki frowned, "Yeah, Kuchiki. Remember her? Little whore  
constantly after you?"

'Ichigo' blinked. Oh yeah, the grade schooler. He shrugged, "Dunno.  
She had to somewhere with some guy to do some thing."

Tatsuki frowned deepened. She didn't know why, but something  
felt... off here, "Really?"

'Ichigo' pushed himself back onto his feet and dusted off his  
pants, "Yeah. Why?"

She shrugged, "Well, considering she to the trouble of distracting  
me with Queen Pervo, I thought she was about to seduce you or something."

"Queen Pervo?", he asked, a grin touching his lips.

"What's with that smirk?"

He wagged her eyes at her, "Queen Pervo, huh?"

"Well, it seems to fit Chizuru to a T and all."

'Ichigo' continued to smirk at the thought of this Queen Pervo.  
Now if she had the fun bags to go with the title...

"....Babe, you're drooling."

'Ichigo' blinked, "Oh, sorry 'bout that." He wiped this mouth  
with an arm.

"!!!"

Tatsuki sighed. Oh man, now what? "What is Keigo?"

Keigo wrapped an arm around 'Ichigo's' shoulder, "Back from  
another wild lunch so soon?"

"Wild lunch?", 'Ichigo' asked.

"Oh you know man!" He then waggled his eyebrows in knowing and  
lowered his lips to his friends ear, "A main course of Tatsuki  
with a healthy side of Rukia."

It took a moment for what kind of implications Keigo was insinuating,  
however once the connection was made, only one word came to mind.

SCORE!

'Ichigo's' eye's glazed over and his tongue hung out of his mouth, causing  
Keigo's grin to raise a few notches. "Oh man, for real dude?"

BAM!

BAM!

Keigo and 'Ichigo' both grabbed their faces in pain as Tatsuki  
retracted her fist, "Get your minds outta' the gutter."

She frowned at Ichigo. Oh yes, there was something wrong here.  
Her Ichigo shouldn't be having THOSE kind of thoughts unless is  
was just her and him!

The rest of the walk back to the classroom was a surprisingly quiet  
affair. Tatsuki still feeling something was off, yen not able to put  
her finger on it. 'Ichigo', deciding that silence might be golden at  
this point, was content to let himself be led back to the classroom.

As he followed both Tatsuki and Keigo his eyes traveled south and  
smiled at the hypnotic rhythm of Tatsuki's behind moving back and  
forth. Coming to a stop, presumably to their class they entered.

'Ichigo' stopped in the doorway, eyes roving over the first group of girls  
to catch his eye, 'Cute, cute, decent rack, nice legs....' he grinned.  
An eyebrow raised as he leaned beside the door to the classroom,  
'Not a bad group of ladies here....' His eyebrow raised even  
further as he caught sight of Chizuru talking to Mai, 'Even the  
bookworm's a cutie pie. And I do love me some redheads.'

"Ah! Tatsuki-chan!! Kurosaki-kun!!"

Ichigo' turned to the sweet, feminine voice and caught sight of Orihime.  
'Oh maaaan, she's the cutest one in this room,' he thought. His eyes then  
turned downward towards, "SWEET MOTHER OF MAMMARIES!!"

The silence was so long, you would think someone had died.

Or was about to at any rate.

Every eye in the room, save three, were fixated on 'Ichigo'.

Tatsuki's jaw was hanging limply from her mouth, eyes bugged out as  
she slowly turned to 'Ichigo', He... he didn't just say that, right?  
Now I know the shrimp has stressed me out...I'm hearing things..'

Then she saw that 'Ichigo's' eyes were still rather fixated on  
Orihime's chest.

'...............Damn, I'm seeing things too.'

Orihime blinked, "Ummm.... Kurosaki-kun?"

'Ichigo' blinked in surprise, "Holy crap you guys can talk.  
Yes my tender ones, it is I. But you may call me master."

Suddenly, he disappeared from Tatsuki's vision, "Wha?"

She looked around and found him at Orihime's desk, holding the  
girl's hand, "Now then.... might I ask you your name, my dear?"

"Wha... how'd he move so fast?!?"

"Didn't even see him move!!"

"Wow... when'd Ichigo become such a Casanova?"

'Ichigo' allowed himself a small smirk as he heard the comments,  
'Heh, I'm awesome, he thought. He leaned down to kiss Orihime's  
hand, 'And this'll make it the piece de resistance...'

He was startled out of his thoughts as he felt 'his' arms pulled  
apart, "Huh?"

Tatsuki grunted as she locked in a full nelson on her boyfriend, "OK  
Ichigo, quit it!! This joke ain't funny and it never was funny!!  
Snap outta it already!!"

"Don't worry, your next after this cutie."

snap!

That, dear reader, is the sound of one Arisawa Tatsuki's reason giving out.

Several veins popped on Tatsuki's forehead, "......I'm.... next....huh?" she  
growled.

Say hello to anger and scorn.

They're not very nice

As 'Ichigo' would soon find out.

....Pray for him.

* * *

Ichigo shuddered a bit as the hollow he finished dissipated from the area.

"Something wrong?" Rukia questioned.

Ichigo turned to look at her, "Did ya ever get the feeling that you where neck deep  
in crap for something you didn't even do?"

Rukia shrugged, "Can't say that I- hey, where are you going?"

Ichigo was taking off at a full sprint as Rukia began to run as fast  
as she could to catch up. "To do damage control!" he responded.

"I told you it's not a problem! There's no need to hurry, Ichigo!"

He frowned to himself, "Somehow, I doubt that."

* * *

As Keigo hid behind his desk, unbuttoning his shirt as the room's  
temperature began to rise to uncomfortable levels, An epiphany stuck him.  
"Y'know somethin' Mizuro?"

Mizuro turned to Keigo from behind his own desk, eeping as a piece of metal from a  
desk's leg zoomed by his desk and embedded it's self into the wall, "Yeah Keigo?"

"Pimpin' ain't easy, huh?"

Mizuro gave Keigo an odd look, "Huh? where'd that thought come from?"

Keigo shrugged as the wanton acts of destruction continued around the classroom,  
"Well, look at Ichigo. First he had Tatsuki all nice and locked up right?"

Mizuro nodded.

"Then he gets the new transfer student, and starts with all the threesomes and such, y'know?"

Mizuro nodded again, wondering where this was going.

"And now he's making moves on Orihime in broad daylight! You think he leveled up or something?"

Mizuro gave him a flat look, "Where do you come up with this stuff Keigo?"

Keigo pointed to his skull, "Natural deduction my man. Natural deduction."

Mizuro jerked a thumb back to the carnage going on behind him, "Then what do you call this?"

Keigo shrugged, "Someone not laying down their pimp hand?"

Mizuro eyed the escalating fight warily, "Though it looks like it's going to be the other way around."

Keigo shrugged, "Hey like I said, pimpin' ain't easy man."

"Can't you relax Ichigo? How many times do I have to tell you everything is all right?"

Ichigo turned behind him to frown at Rukia, never breaking his stride, "Forgive me if  
your vote of confidence doesn't exactly fill me with reassurance!"

Rukia frowned as she struggled to keep pace, "Anyone ever tell you to relax more?  
I mean for goodness sake, that hollow was super easy as well! Don't you think that's a  
GOOD sign?"

"We'll see... I've had a bad feeling ever since I killed that thing," His pace  
increased as the school building entered his sight. "And I've learned to trust  
my gut!"

"Hey wait!" Rukia cried out in vain as Ichigo. She groaned as she continued to run as  
fast as she could in her gigai, 'Damn this stupid gigai! It's all I can do to keep him in  
my sights! I'm barely stronger than a normal schoolgirl in this thing! Just wait till  
I get my hands on the R&D guys! They're all about tits and ass when I need muscle!'

CRASH!

Rukia's thoughts paused as she looked up at the building to find a desk flying out of the window  
of a classroom.

Ichigo's classroom.

She frowned as she caught up to Ichigo who was looking on stunned, "Looks like I owe you an  
apology, Ichigo."

Ichigo then scowled and broke out into a full sprint towards his classroom. Rukia  
blinked and scowled at he charge, "Damnit, Ichigo! Wait up!"

* * *

"I know I said pimpin' wasn't easy," Keigo began. Taking off his undershirt and  
wiping the never ending sweat from his brow, "But this is getting ridiculous!"

Mizuro frowned as he wiped the sweat from his brow, "Why's it so dang hot in  
here anyways?"

Keigo shrugged, "Beats me..." he looked over the desk he and Mizuro where hiding behind  
to see Tatsuki and 'Ichigo' still ducking it out. He blinked as it looked as though  
a fiery aura was surrounding the young martial artist. He ducked back behind the desk,  
"But I think it's making me hallucinate somethin' fierce."

Behind another desk sat Chizuru and Mai, huddling in a corner and hugging each other for  
dear life. Mai turned to the school lesbian, tears flowing in her eyes. "Hey, Chizuru...  
can't you do something?"

Chizuru looked down at Mai, shock and fear etched on her face, "M-M-M-M-ME?!?! Do you want  
me to die?! I'm not freakin' Bruce Willis over here, y'know!"

"I know but...." she looked down shyly, "I just figured that if you went after Orihime  
right now..."

Chizuru frowned, "....So you want me to sacrifice myself to end a lover's squabble?"

Mai gave her a flat look, "One life to save countless others... seems like a fair  
deal to me."

".....You're vicious."

"I prefer to think of myself as a survivalist."

And in the center ring, 'Ichigo' managed to dodge another desk from Tatsuki, "Goddamn,  
ya crazy bitch! What's your freakin' problem?"

"What's my problem? What's my problem? WHAT'S MY PROBLEM?!? MY BOYFRIEND'S CHEATING  
ON ME RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY FACE!! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!?"

'Ichigo' frowned, "...Ever think it was your fault?"

Tatsuki paused and growled, "....Ok... I'll bite. Tell me how this is my fault?"

'Ichigo' shrugged, "Well... if you had a bigger chest and weren't so violent to me..."

Tatsuki's eyebrow twitched, "Is... is that so?" She then tossed the desk back  
at soon-to-be-dead boyfriend, "Sorry for being flat chested!!!!"

'Ichigo' dodged again, "Shit, girl! I was joking! Y'know, not serious?"

"Then get serious and explain yourself!" She cried as she charged him, "Or  
keep being funny and get creamed!"

'Ichigo' eeped and shut his eyes. There was no way to dodge her fist in time, 'Oh crap,  
this is gonna hurt,' he thought.

"Hold it!!"

Tatsuki's fist froze in front of 'Ichigo's' face, and he tentatively opened his eyes  
to find it hovering a mere inch from his nose. He let out a sigh of relief.

Tatsuki frowned at the new intruder, "What do you want, bitch?!? I'm busy!"

'Ichigo' then turned to see Rukia looking coolly at him and he gulped  
deeply, "Oh shit, the fuzz!"

Tatsuki could only blink as 'Ichigo' hauled ass away from the girls, bowling  
over any desks that were in his way as he charged to the open window.  
She growled again, chasing after him. "Hold it!

"Cut him off Ichigo!"

Tatsuki blinked, 'The hell is that shorty talking 'bout?'

She turned back to the window and got her answer. As 'Ichigo' was cut off...

By Ichigo.

Dressed in a black hakama and with a huge ass sword strapped to his back.  
Familiar scowl in place. He glared at his body, "I got'cha sucker!"

'Ichigo' gave Ichigo a dark smirk, "Y'think so?"

The substitute shinigami could only look on in shock as his body  
jumped past him and out the window. He turned around in a panic,  
"Stop ya jerk! That's my body you're about to total!"

The mod soul obviously didn't realize this as he landed upon  
he nailed a perfect landing on the school's track field. Ichigo could  
do nothing but watch as his body then took off from the school grounds  
at speeds beyond normal human possibility. He glared and jumped down  
from the window, "Fuck!!" he swore as he chased after his body once again.

Rukia frowned as she heard Ichigo's curse. She turned and left the classroom  
deep in thought, 'To do that... it's gotta be a mod konpaku... this could be  
trouble."

Meanwhile, forgotten in all the chaos stood Tatsuki. Shell shocked at what  
she had just witnessed. "...what the hell was that just now?"

It was impossible to believe, yet she had no choice to do so after seeing  
two Ichigo's as plain as day. Considering no one else was reacting  
to such a sight meant that she was the only one who had seen the black  
Ichigo. But for that to be possible...

She frowned and walked towards the classroom door. She needed answers, and she  
was going to get them. Come hell or high water, this would make sense. Pausing  
as she caught sight of the cowering Chizuru and Mai, she frowned and glanced at  
Chizuru. "Hey."

The girls squeaked and Chizuru looked up at Tatsuki fearfully, "Y-yes?"

"Do me a favor, would ya?" she asked, "When the teachers ask what happened  
in here, tell them it was a random act of God huh? Thanks."

She walked out of the classroom, Chizuru fearfully eyeing the martial artist  
every step of the way. She let out a breath of relief as she disappeared  
from sight, "....So that's a woman scorned, eh?"

Mai shook her head at that, "That wasn't a woman. That was a demon. A demon  
unleashed."

Chizuru nodded, "May god have mercy on us all."

* * *

"!!" Ichigo shouted.  
"We lost 'em! I mean me! I mean..." He groaned and clutched  
his head. "Shit this is confusing."

"You're under a moratorium." Rukia sighed. Crossing her arms  
as she stared at her charge.

"If you're gonna speak, say somethin' useful at least, dammit!"  
Ichigo retorted. "Bad enough he hijacked my body... if what the  
class said was true... if that's true he... he..."

"He kissed Inoue-san." Rukia finished. She shrugged, "So  
what?"

"So what? SO WHAT?!? He did that in front of MY GIRLFRIEND!"  
Ichigo shuttered, "I can already feel the knife on my throat."

"I thought that your generation was so oversexed that a kiss  
was like a handshake."

"BZZ! WRONG!" Ichigo corrected, making an X with his arms  
for emphasis. "It's a really big freakin' deal! Especially  
when you're taken!" He moaned again, falling to his knees,  
"Ohh... my image... my love life... all shot to hell by some  
candy with a sex drive! How the heck am I gonna go back to  
school tomorrow?"

"We can worry about that later," Rukia crouched down to Ichigo.  
The boy frowned at her, but she ignored it as she continued.  
"We still have to find that Mod Soul and get you back into your  
body. Who knows what he could be concocting now that he has  
flesh?"

"True..." He stood up and looked in the direction of his school,  
"But still, goin' to school tomorrow's gonna suck hard."

"About that..." Rukia gave Ichigo a pensive look. Causing the  
substitute shinigami to raise an eyebrow, "Do you remember that talk  
we had last week about your lover? That she can see sprits as well  
as you can?"

"Yeah... what about it?"

"I think she saw you. Both of you."

Ichigo paused for a moment before he frowned deeper than normal,  
"You're sure?"

"I think it's a fair assumption since she was right there behind your  
body when you lumped in front of it."

He surprised her by letting off a chuckle, "It's almost as if someone's  
determined to tell her about this."

* * *

-Michigan-

"Gehchoo! Stupid freakin' fourth walls..."

* * *

"So... how do you want to deal with this?" Rukia asked. Her arms tightened  
slightly, lips forming a thin line as she coolly eyed her charge.

Ichigo simply grunted, turning to Rukia as he responded, "We'll deal with it  
later. *After* I get my body back. Hopefully I'll figure something out by then."

Rukia sighed, "You're just delaying the inevitable."

Ichigo shrugged, "It's all I can do for now."

"In any case, we're wasting time," She turned away from Ichigo and began  
walking. "We need to keep looking for that Mod before the trail grows  
even colder."

Ichigo frowned at her retreating figure, "Just what the hell are those  
things anyway?"

Rukia continued, never breaking her stride, "Just follow me.  
It will be easier to look and explain."

Ichigo nodded and followed the shinigami. 'Why do I have the feeling  
I'm not gonna like this?'

* * *

Tatsuki's legs pumped as she continued forward, quick short breaths  
coming from her mouth. She continued onward, weaving in and out of  
the midday crowds of Karakura, not mindful of the odd looks she was  
getting as some double checked their watches. She herself was not  
mindful of the time either, only taking stock of it to time the  
lights of the intersection, mumbling in frustration at the time lost  
when she needed to come to a stop at a corner. That frustration,  
however, could not compare to what she had felt not an hour ago,  
after one of the most bizarre experiences she ever had in a fight  
with her boyfriend happened.

'Where the hell is he?!' she thought as she continued to barrel  
through the busy streets of Karakura. Nothing that had happened  
an hour ago made a lick of sense and there was only one person who  
could answer her questions.

Or was it two people now? There's no way what she saw could be  
real, right? The scene replayed itself again, as it had since she  
first hopped the school fence, doing what she could to follow Ichigo  
and his near constant shadow, Rukia. Ichigo was chasing Ichigo. Or  
was Ichigo running from Ichigo? How the hell had he managed to become  
two people at once? And why was Rukia accompanying him in this?  
What the hell did that little tram know about this?

She hopped in place as she waited for the traffic signal to turn, allowing  
her to continue her mad dash forward. The thought of that girl yet *again*  
by his side continued to feed the adrenaline that was surging through her,  
'She didn't even look surprised that he split into two different people.'

Her fist clenched at the thought. That meant she knew something about what  
was going on. Why? Why was Ichigo keeping her out of the loop? You'd think  
you would tell your girlfriend you had the ability to split into two different  
people at will or something like that.

"What if she did this?" she whispered to herself as she shoved past a  
college-aged man. She snorted at that. No way. She might as well call  
her a witch if that was the case.

And then there was that fight she and 'Ichigo' had had. If you could  
call it that. He had been so...strange. Even his speech and mannerisms.....  
it was like he was someone else. And the way he moved... avoided all of her  
attacks.. that was not how Ichigo moved. He couldn't move that fast to save  
his life last she checked.

She growled and screamed to the heavens, startling all those around her.  
"Damnit, there's just to many freakin' questions!" She scowled and broke  
into a full fledged run once more. After all, when you have questions you  
get answers. That was one of the few things her father managed to instill in her.

Even if you had to bust a few heads to get them.

* * *

"A while back.... there was a project in Soul Society called 'Spearhead'."

Ichigo blinked as he followed Rukia, "Spearhead?"

"Yes," Rukia confirmed, "The idea was to inject special fighting sprits  
into the bodies of dead humans. It was thought that they could be used  
as soldiers against the hollows."

Ichigo frowned, but said nothing as Rukia continued. "What they developed  
were combat-ready Konpaku that could supercharge a portion of the corpse's  
body. Be it speed, strength, intelligence, their singing voice..."

"Singing voice?" Ichigo deadpanned.

"I know," Rukia responded, "But that is a mod soul. And the one we're  
after has clearly enhanced your legs. It's called an underpod type."

"Ok...so what happened? Obviously these guys aren't supposed to be around anymore."

"One of the experiments got away. And ultimately the project was scrapped  
because many felt it was wrong to use the dead like that. And all the mod  
souls... even the ones in development were destroyed. I have no idea how  
this one survived. But..."

Ichigo stopped running, eying Rukia oddly. "Hold up..."

Rukia passed, looking at her ward curiously, "Yes?"

"Lemmie get this straight... he was created by the Soul Society... and  
condemned by the Soul Society for coming out just as he was designed to be?"

Rukia sighed, crossing her arms across her chest, "Basically... yes."

"And that's all right with you?"

She shrugged and turned away from him, "Whether I'm fine with it or not  
is irrelevant. The law condemned them. And you would be wise to remember,"  
she turned back to look at him, and Ichigo was taken back by the hardness of  
her gaze, "That those laws exist to protect Humanity and their souls!"

Ichigo looked away from her gaze. Rukia turned back around, "Let's go,  
Ichigo.... or do you not want your body back?"

"I'm coming chibi-gami," Ichigo muttered. He broke out into a dead  
run, managing to keep up stride for stride with Rukia. His eyes grew  
distant as his mind digested the information he was given, 'He stole  
my body... but... but can I really be all that mad with him? He  
didn't ask to be created... nor did he do a thing to deserve the death  
penalty...and somehow the wheel of fate turned in his favor for him to  
exist long enough to find a body.'

'How... how does that feel?'

* * *

"THIS IS AWESOME!"

'Ichigo' leaped throughout the crowds, goofy grin plastered  
on his face as people stopped and stared in stone cold shock at  
the sight of the young man leaping fifteen feet high into the  
air as if he were just skipping along in place, "These people can't  
believe what their seeing! The living embodiment of awesomeness!"

The mod soul then jumped off a light post and landed on the back of  
a car and leapt off it to cross the road, leaving a large dent in the  
cars roof and more dazed citizens in his wake, "I know we mods had  
special skills, but I got tons of animal magnetism too! I'm just  
too awesome for words!"

He leapt high again into the air, momentum timed with his jump making  
it appear that he was floating midair. Relishing in the wind in his  
face he spread his arms upward and yelled again, loving the feeling of  
having a body again. "Hahahahhahaahahahaha!!!! I'm NEVER leavin' this  
body! That's a promise!"

At that moment, the local Katakura Elementary School students were outside.  
It was for a fairly tedious thing, just physical education. However, a verily  
tedious thing can cause people's eyes to wander. And in the case of one Kurosaki  
Yuzu, it caused her to see a sight so odd she had to rub her eyes in disbelief to  
make sure what she saw was not an illusion.

When she saw it once more, her face broke out in a grin and she waved to  
the sight "HEY ICHI-NII!"

Karin blinked and eyed her sister oddly, walking up behind her.  
"Oy, Yuzu. What're you doing?"

"Oh, Karin-chan! I just saw Ichi-ni!"

"Hah?" Karin looked around the yard, "Where?"

Yuzu pointed over the wall of their school ,"There! He jumped over the wall!"

Karin let out an exasperated sigh and chucked, "Man Yuzu, I never thought  
you had such an imagination. There's no way Ichigo could do that. The  
wall's over eight feet high!"

"But he did. I know it was him"

"Ok, humor me. How'd you know it was him."

"His hair was Ichi-ni's and he was wearing the high school uniform", she explained.

"Still doesn't explain how he can leap eight feet high. No human can do that!  
Do you need to lie down?"

Yuzu turned and pointed, "I don't need to lie down! See?"

Karin looked at where her sister pointed...

To find her brother leaping well over the wall, grinning like an idiot.  
'What the heck?!' she thought in shock.

"I told you! Hey Ichi-"

Karin slapped her hand over her sister's mouth, "Don't wave at him you idiot!  
That's not Ichigo! He can't jump that high!"

"But he is right now".

"That an imposter! It's gotta be!"

She then grabbed her sisters arm and drug her back to the track field, "You know what,  
it was probably a figment of your imagination! What you need is some exercise to  
keep your mind busy!"

"But we both saw the same thing", Yuzu reasoned to Karin's frustration.

"Your imagination just infected mine! And don't mention this to anyone! They'll  
think we're both nuts!"

"But..."

"No buts! Exercise now!"

* * *

Meanwhile, 'Ichigo' blinked as he caught sight of two boys huddling together.  
He leaped onto the wall behind them, eyeing them curiously. "What're they doing?"  
He whispered to himself.

"God, P.E. sucks." A bespectacled boy complained.

"No kiddin'" the other boy, a heavyset child agreed. "I mean, every time I do  
one little thing wrong, that Kurosaki chick goes nuts."

"Yeah, Kurosaki's a jerk." his friend agreed, "But her sister's cute."

"Yep. Got that right." He grinned at his friend, "Hey you brought that game of  
yours, right?"

"Pfft, no. That guy I made last time sucks. I'm taking a break from it now."

"Aww... lame. Why don't ya just delete him anyways?"

The boy shrugged, "I dunno. I really should. I mean, characters who don't obey  
their masters should just die, right?"

His friend nodded, "Heck yeah, man. I can make you a better one if ya want."

At that, the mod soul frowned. DEEPLY. "Deleted....huh?" he growled, causing  
the boys to notice him. "And what about them?", he snarled. "Any thoughts on  
how they may feel? Of how hard they worked only to be tossed away!"

"W-w-w-who the heck is that?" The bespectacled boy asked. Backing away in  
shock and fear.

"Do you have any idea what that's like?!" he snarled again as he stomped  
towards them.

"Are you crazy?" The chubby boy asked. "It's just a game, man!"

His eyes twitched at the thought of his lost 'siblings'. "ITS NOT A GAME!"

"He is crazy! Dude, let's get outta here!"

His friend nodded and the boys ran off back to the school track. The mod soul's  
eyes widened in an anger. "It's not a game," he whispered to himself. He leaped  
off the wall and punched it, leaving a sizeable dent as he retracted his fist.  
"Obedience... just eliminating something because it doesn't work for out anymore...  
people are just.... Just-!"

"Found you."

'Ichigo' found as he turned to find Tatsuki leaned against the wall. She panted  
slightly as she walked up to the mod soul, "Ok you. I got questions and you got  
answers. So you better spill. NOW."

"You again?"

"Yes. Me again. Now Ichigo you better explain what the hell just happen and..."  
Her eyes widened at the crater near 'Ichigo', "Did you do that?"

"Yeah, what of it?" he said nonchalantly.

"What of it? What of it? How the hell did you do that?!"

"Like this", he said and demonstrated for her, creating another crater.  
"Cool, right?"

Tatsuki's jaw dropped at the sight, "B-b-b-but..."

He grinned and walked up to her, "That was cool right? C'mon admit it."

Tatsuki took a step back, not quite believing what she was seeing.

The mod rose an eyebrow at this, "Oh, what's this? Are you afraid of me now?"

"You-you're not Ichigo, are you?", she asked, shaken.

He smirked, "I can be if ya want me to, babe."

"Stay away!", she screamed, taking a stance.

"Oh come on now, babe. I ain't gonna hurt ya. It'd be a waste to hurt a cutie  
like you, ya know."

"I said stay away!", she screamed, anger now pushing aside her earlier fear.

"I'll leave if ya give me a kiss." He said as he puckered his lips.

"I'll give you a kiss you!" she snarled as she swung at him.

She growled as he sidestepped her punch, "Now that's not nice. I jus-" He then frowned,  
eyes darting around franticly, "Get outta here. Now." he growled.

Noticing his eyes darting back and forth she risked taking a look around as well and  
found nothing. "Why?"

"Just do as I say and go! NOW!"

"Not until you tell me what's goin' on!!"

"I said," He shoved her roughly away, and Tatsuki gasped as a large crater appeared  
where she was standing. Her eyes widened as she saw something in the crater that  
looked like a rather large black caterpillar. "Get outta here!"

"W-w-w-what the hell is that?" She barely managed to roll out of the way as something  
shot out at her. "Wha... was that a tentacle?"

"YES, 'Ichigo' screamed at her. "NOW GET OUT OF HERE!" He gasped in pain as another  
tentacle shot out and clipped his shoulder. He clenched it tightly as it began to  
bleed, "Damnit." he growled.

"Ichigo!" Tatsuki cried out as he collapsed to her knees.

She paled slightly as she caught a glimpse of the creatures skull-face. It was grinning  
slightly as it looked at Ichigo, "Heh... so you think you're gonna stop me from gettin'  
my lunch? Well, you can be my appetizer instead!"

Tatsuki's mind was racing as she watched the scene unfolding before her. What the hell  
was that monster? Why was it trying to eat her and Ichigo? And was she going to die in  
a place like this? Sniveling like a damned coward?

Hell. No.

She wanted... needed answers. And dead men tell no tales. She frowned and stood up,  
"HEY UGLY!" she shouted.

The hollow turned to her, with what Tatsuki assumed was a scowl on it's face,  
"Ugly?" it asked.

She smirked defiantly, "Did I stutter?"

The hollow looked at her and for a second appeared as if the glow of it's eyes intensified.  
"You... how dare you!! I'll eat you first girlie!"

It shot out a tentacle so fast, Tatsuki was stunned she was able to roll out of it's way.  
She smirked defiantly as she managed to run up to Ichigo and shield him with her body,  
"Is that all you got ugly?" She cried defiantly, "You probably should just leave and go  
run on a treadmill or something fatty!"

"F-f-f-fatty?!?!?"

"What're you so mad about ugly?" She asked. She grew a smirk up at the monster in an  
act of defiance, "You could go on a diet as far as I can see. He did ya a favor."

"Nee-san..." 'Ichigo' whispered in awe.

The hollow growled in rage at her, "Got a smart mouth, huh? Let's  
see how smart you are... IN MY BELLY,GIRL!!"

That said, the hollow extended it's tendril toward Tatsuki, and all she  
could do was gasp at how fast it was coming towards her body.  
'Is... is this how I'm... I'm gonna die?'

As the tendril continued to make it's way toward her body, her mind  
couldn't help but wonder at how things turned out like this.

'Ichigo...'

"TATSUKI!"

Tatsuki gasped in shock as the black robed Ichigo appeared in front of her, slicing the  
tendril that was racing towards her. "Ichigo?" she whispered in surprise.

"You all right?" he asked as he stood in front of her protectively.

"Ich-Ichigo", she breathed at what she was watching. Her eyes widened as she remembered  
that he should be behind her. Darting her head back, there 'Ichigo' was, looking at her...  
almost reverently? No, no time. Whipping her head back to the one in front of her,  
she asked, "H-how?!"

"I'll explain later," He dismissed. Glaring at the hollow in front of him, "Right now,  
I gotta send ugly to meet his maker."

"You goddamned shinigami!!" The hollow cried as he shot out another tendril, "Don't  
get in the way of my lunch!"

"C'mon fatso," Ichigo grinned cockily, "Time for you to sweat it off!"

Tatsuki then gasped as Ichigo managed to dodge another attack from the hollow and  
swing at his tentacle. Chopping the appendage off and causing the creature to shriek  
in pain. That...was a very *big* sword she noted, "This is... insane," she muttered.

"Don't be so sloppy!"

Tatsuki blinked and turned to find the clingy new girl with her arms crossed and  
looking at Ichigo sternly.

"Oh shut up, chibi-gami! This is no problem!"

"Less lip," she pointed to another tentacle making it's way toward him ,"and look out!"

Ichigo managed to avoid that attack and lop off yet another tentacle, "Man are you trying  
to make me help you lose weight or somethin'?"

"What are you waiting for Ichigo! Make way towards the mask!" Rukia directed him.

"You think I'm not trying to?!" He cried back.

Tatsuki looked back and forth throughout Ichigo and Rukia's discussion. Listened to their  
conversation. Her mind thought back to Rukia's reluctance in parting from Ichigo. Her  
demanding talk. Ichigo reluctantly obeying her commands and her frazzled mind made a rather  
rash conclusion she would later realize.

"Oh dear god no....", she deadpanned. "My boyfriend's become a Pokemon..." She chucked  
softly.

"This is it!" The hollow cried out as it charged Ichigo at full steam, "I've had enough  
of you shinigami!!"

Ichigo simply smirked in response, "Gottcha stupid."

Instead of charging back at the hollow, he simply stood in place. Smirking defiantly at  
the beast.

"Ichigo!" Tatsuki and Rukia cried out.

"YOU'RE MINE!!" The hollow roared as his jaws opened to eat the substitute shinigami.

The hollow was so sure that he had won, one could almost feel sorry for what happened next.

The hollow then gasped as Ichigo put his zampakuto in front of him. Far to late for him  
to stop his charge. "NOOOOOOOooooooo!!" it cried as his charge managed to split him in two  
on Ichigo's blade. Ichigo sheathed his blade as the last of the hollow dissolved.

"And that's that." He finished calmly before turning around to find Tatsuki staring  
at him in shock once more and the mod soul was still looking at her in awe. 'And now  
comes the hard part...'

"Um...hey babe", he said.

"Hey...babe? Hey babe?! What the hell was all that? What's up with your clothes?  
Why're there two of you?! How the hell did you get that huge ass sword? WHAT THE FUCK  
IS GOING ON?!?!"

"You sure you don't regret trashing the memory wiper?" Rukia asked, low enough for  
Tatsuki not to overhear.

"Shut up, shorty." he growled. He looked up at Tatsuki and gave her an apologetic smile,  
"Babe, relax I can explain."

"Then start talking. NOW."

Ichigo chucked nervously, "Sure thing but there's one more thing I gotta take care of first."

He then walked up to his body and roughly grabbed it and brought the mod soul up to his face, "Wha-?"

"LOOK AT THIS!" He pointed to the wound on his shoulder, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO, YOU MOD  
SOUL?! THAT'S MY BODY YOU'RE FUCKING UP!!"

The mod soul looked at Ichigo, stunned ,"What I did? What I did?! I had to  
fight that thing 'cause you took your sweet time gettin' here!! If I hadn't  
held 'im off your girl would be dead right now!"

"Your... body?" Tatsuki asked, clearly confused.

Ichigo frowned at the mod soul, "Is that true?"

"Hell yeah, now could you put me down. Your shoulder's killing me."

Rukia smirked, "And stop trying to dodge your lover's questions."

The couple blushed at that as Ichigo rounded back to Rukia, "I told you we're not like that!"

"And I think I told you to stop skirting the issue and answer the girl's questions. You  
can't avoid this anymore you know."

"Traitor." he muttered. Tatsuki cleared her throat. And Ichigo gulped slightly as he  
turned to her, "It's... a long story."

"I got time." Tatsuki growled, "Start talking."

"Ah... were to begin?"

"The beginning helps", Tatsuki prodded.

"Ahehe..." He scratched his shoulder nervously ,"You remember that big hole that  
was in the clinic a few weeks ago?"

She nodded, "Go on."

"Well.... apparently a hollow, that monster thing that I just killed, was  
after me. Rukia was a shinigami charged with looking after the area for  
things like that and sending souls off to Soul Society."

"Soul society?"

"It's like heaven," Ichigo simplified. "Anyway it attacked us and wounded  
Rukia really bad. Long story short, I got her powers and now I'm doing her  
job for her until she get them back."

'...............", was the response that they got from Tatsuki. After a  
moment, she blinked hard and turned her head downwards as she did it. When  
she brought it up again to look at her boyfriend she managed to get out.  
"You...have her powers", she said slowly, grasping what she was told.  
"And now you're doing her job?"

"Basically." He nodded.

"For how long?"

He shrugged, "I dunno. As long as it takes I guess."

"And how long could that be?"

"I dunno! I don't know how this works either!"

"But you jumped in with both feet?"

"Considering you, dad, and my sister's lives were in danger, I didn't have a  
choice in the matter."

Tatsuki sighed, knowing and not wanting to argue with that logic. She then  
turned to Rukia. "How long are you going to let him do this?"

Rukia shrugged, "Like he said as long as it takes. It's taking a bit  
longer than I'd like though. But he's needed to keep the peace in my  
place."

Tatsuki grimaced realizing that her boyfriend's new side job wasn't  
going away soon. Speaking of which...."Why didn't you tell me"?

He blinked, "Hah?"

She looked at him with half lidded eyes and drawn down eyebrows and  
he found himself shuffling. "Why didn't you tell me about all this?"

"I... I was just trying to protect you."

"Protect me?"

"Yeah...I...I didn't want you getting hurt, y know?"

Her lips formed a thin line, "So... you were coddling me?"

"Nononononoonono!" he waived his hands franticly in denial, "I was just  
trying to keep you safe, that's all! I didn't want you getting hurt  
'cause of me!"

She frowned, "But If you had told me, I would've been able to avoid those  
hollow things! And I don't need you to protect me! I can take care of  
myself!! I'm a District champion, remember?!? I can't *believe* how  
stupid you're being!!!" yelled Tatsuki.

"Stupid?! How is it stupid when the only thing that can harm these things  
is one of these?!", he said, holding out his Zanpakuto.

"It's stupid in that you didn't trust me enough to be upfront and honest  
with me at least that you're risking your life 'cause you have to pay off  
a debt!"

"I just don't want you getting hurt!"

"And that might have been avoided if you were honest with me!"

He sighed, "Ok, fine. Maybe that's true. But don't you think I thought  
it was for the best because... because I *care* about you?! Because I  
*LOVE* you?!?! What am I going to do if something *happens* to you,  
Tatsuki?!?!?!"

Tatsuki looked at him in the eye, and he nearly recoiled at the emotion  
in them. "What am I going to do if something happens to you?"

All he could do was lower his head in shame. "....I'm sorry."

She sighed in response, "Idiot."

"I don't mean to break this up," Rukia said suddenly. "But what are you  
going to do with him?" she asked, pointing at his body.

"Allow me to answer that."

Ichigo and Tatsuki turned at the voice to find a strange man in hat and clogs,  
"Who're you?" Tatsuki asked.

"Just a simple passer-by," The man shrugged, "Who happened to sell Ms.  
Kuchiki this defective merchandise."

'Ichigo' gulped, "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh is right," The man agreed as he held up the end of his cane, "And  
we lugged all this stuff up here for nothing." That said he placed the end  
of his cane on 'Ichigo's' forehead and pushed slightly, sending the mod soul  
out of Ichigo's body as it collapsed like a lifeless husk.

Ichigo blinked and looked at the man in confusion, "What the hell?  
How'd he do that?!"

"Is that what was in you," Tatsuki asked.

He nodded, "But how'd he do that? Only Rukia's been able to 'kill' me."

"Like I said," The mystery man continued as he smiled at Ichigo, "I'm just a  
simple passerby. Nothing more."

Ichigo frowned, "Like hell you are. You can see me, can't you?"

He smiled and shrugged nonchalantly in response, "Can I?"

Ichigo huffed, "Fine, whatever. Can you at least tell me what you're  
gonna do with that guy?"

"I'm going to destroy it. I don't have much of a choice I'm afraid."

"Wha?" The man sighed again, "I said I'm afraid I have to destroy it.  
It's the rules."

"But that's... that's not right!"

Tatsuki blinked, "Ichigo?"

"He didn't ask to be created! He didn't do anything to deserve  
death, and he survived a doomsday just to die like this? He was  
created by those Soul Society guys and now he's gotta die for  
coming out just like they designed him? That ain't right!"

"No," The man agreed, "But it is what it is."

"But what right do we have in saying that?!"

"Shouldn't he have the right in deciding when he lives or dies?"

"He would know better in this case, Ichigo. It may be best to let it  
be", Rukia spoke up.

"I don't care!" He shouted. "It's my purchase right? Well, I don't want  
to return him!"

Rukia opened her mouth to reply that it was actually her purchase but  
Ichigo's glare killed any response as it reached her lips.

"You hear that gettabojin," he asked as he stuck his hand out, "Now gimmie  
back what's mine."

He sighed, "You're sure about this?" Ichigo nodded and he turned to  
Rukia, "And you? Understand I won't take the fall for you on this."

Rukia shrugged, "It'll be fine. You guys are operating outside of the  
law anyways. It's not your job to recall him."

He sighed once again and handed Ichigo the mod soul, "Just be careful  
then, alright?"

He turned to his entourage, "Let's go home,folks. We're done here."

A boy with a shock of red hair looked shocked, "What? But I wanted  
to fight!"

"Maybe next time." he smiled as they walked off into the distance.

Ichigo frowned as the group disappeared," Who was that guy anyway?"

"Someone who's managed to help me on certain things. To be honest we  
should be grateful", Rukia replied.

"I am. But that still doesn't answer all of my questions."

"It will have to do for now." Rukia said as she walked to  
Ichigo's body, "We should leave. I'll heal you before you  
get back into your body."

"You can do that", Tatsuki asked, surprised.

"Watch me." She replied as she bathed Ichigo's shoulder in  
a soft light.

"So... now what," Tatsuki asked as she turned to her boyfriend.

"We go home, I guess", he offered, somewhat unsure himself. "And find  
a body for this guy I guess," he surmised as he looked down at the mod  
soul in his hand.

"You're gonna keep me in the loop from here on in, right?"

Ichigo shrugged, "Don't have much choice, do I?"

She punched him in the arm. "Don't sound so frustrated, 'babe'.

He chucked softly, "So you forgive me?"

"For the moment", she told him.

"That's good enough for me right now."

* * *

"This... is soooo morbid."

Ichigo frowned at his girlfriend, "Your opinion is duly noted."

Tatsuki frowned at Ichigo, "While the idea's nice and all, waiting for road  
kill isn't the most ideal thing we could do for Mr. pervo in your hand."

Rukia sighed, "That's why that man wanted you to give him back, Ichigo"

Tatsuki turned and glared at Rukia, "Don't be getting all familiar with my  
boyfriend, shrimp."

Rukia glared right back, "So what if I am? We're in a partnership, you know."

"I really, really hate that word", Tatsuki muttered.

Rukia blinked, "Why is that? That's what we're involved in. Your lover's all  
yours as far as I'm concerned."

Ichigo blushed and marched onwards. 'Why me?'

Tatsuki face turned bright red at the statement, "W-w-w-w-w-we're not lovers!  
He's just my boyfriend!" She turned back to find Ichigo getting further away,  
"Oy, Ichigo! come here and correct this chibi-gami!"

"Cadaver hunting!" Ichigo cried back in response, not really wanting to go  
over this topic again.

"So what's the difference between a lover and a boyfriend?" Rukia inquired.

Tatsuki stopped and stared into the ground, for a moment lost in trying  
to describe the difference. She could hear Rukia tapping her foot against  
the ground as she thought it best to describe it. Moving her head back and  
forth, practically cracking her neck a few times, she briskly marched  
forward again and tried to keep her face hidden from Rukia.

"It-it just is. Me an' Ichigo haven't jumped that far ye-yet"

"That far?"

Tatsuki began turning even redder, "W-w-w-e haven't.... y'know done THAT... yet."

Rukia blinked, growing more confused, "That? What would that be?"

"W-w-we haven't had... Oh why am I even talking about this with you?" She turned away  
from the girl embarrassed and frustrated, "Ichigo! You found something yet?!?"

Rukia blinked in confusion again. So there was a difference between being considered  
boyfriend/girlfriend and lovers? Just another part of the living world that confused the  
young shinigami. While she had been reading some magazines since the incident a few  
days ago, she had yet to get that far in her research.

The living world was growing all the more complex by the day.

Ichigo meanwhile turned back to the girls, "Yeah, I think I got something here!"

Tatsuki frowned as he showed them what he had found. It was a large stuffed dog  
that had seen better days quite frankly. It looked like it might have been based off a  
German Sheppard. It was also missing an eye, was rather dirty and... was that  
mold on it's stomach?

Tatsuki sighed, "It's not as morbid at least."

"Should be good after a good wash", Ichigo muttered. "Ok let's go!"

The girls watches as Ichigo put the toy down and slowly, painstakingly put the  
mod soul into the toy's mouth. As soon as Ichigo had finished, the trio stood back,  
gulped simultaneously, and waited. The animal blinked it's one good  
eye and the trio jumped slightly in shock. The mod soul then rose up and looked  
around, ".... Where am I?"

"In a body." Ichigo answered.

"...Why do I smell like moldy gym socks?" The soul asked after a moment.

"Strong nose?" Tatsuki guessed.

The soul turned back to them, "And why are ya'll so freakin' tall?!?"

"Luck of the draw?", Ichigo happenstance.

The soul then looked down saw his stubby legs. He raised a "paw" and got  
a good look at it before pointing it at the trio in rage, "YOU PUT ME IN  
A STUFFED ANIMAL?!? WHAT THE HELL?!?"

"You should be grateful. It's better then nothing," Rukia commented.

"But... but... I was supposed to be human... How am I supposed to get with girls  
with... with huge tatas?!?"

Tatsuki gave the living stuffed animal a 'what the hell' look before turning to  
her boyfriend, "... Great idea there, babe."

Ichigo sighed and then stared at Rukia with a "what now?" look.

She huffed and turned away from him in response, "Don't give me that look. This was  
your idea."

Ichigo sighed as there was no help coming there. He put a hand to his temple as the soul  
continued to bemoan to the heavens at the lost opportunities for mammary grabbing, "Would  
you shut up? At least I gave you a body!"

"Oh yeah, a cursed body!!! Thanks allot, demon!" The soul turned away from the trio and  
looked towards the sky, "Oh dear god, why do you make... meugh!"

Ichigo frowned slightly as he held the doll's mouth shut, "Oh shut it, ya drama queen.  
You're lucky fortune's still smiling on you as it is."

The soul glared softly, but relented at that. Ichigo picked him up and looked back  
at Tatsuki, "OK, I'm getting this guy back home. You sure you're ok?"

She nodded, "As fine as can be expected anyway." She smirked as she looked at Ichigo's  
shirt, "How're you gonna explain the blood on your shirt to Yuzu?"

He simply snorted in response, "I guess I'll think of something on the way. I'll call you  
later ok?"

She nodded once more, causing Ichigo to smile softly as he turned and walked back to his home.  
Tatsuki blinked as she noted that Rukia was still walking beside her boyfriend.  
"Does she live close to you or something?"

Ichigo gulped loudly as Rukia looked at him quizzically, "Oh that's right we didn't tell her."

Tatsuki blinked and glared at her boyfriend, "What didn't you tell me now, Ichigo?" she  
said icily.

Ichigo paled slightly as he turned to his girlfriend, "Oh, this is not gonna end well."

* * *

End Chapter 4


	5. Free from work, now let's chill

**Bleach is created by Tite Kubo and distributed by Weekly Shonen Jump, **  
**Shueisha, Studio Pierrot, TV Tokyo, Adult Swim, & Viz Media LLC.**

Should Kubo, or any of his affiliates, request it, this not-for-profit  
story will be taken off line as quickly as possible.

Any original characters, however, are owned by me. If you steal them, I  
shall hunt you down and skewer your nuts.

Feedback is encouraged. That's why I write. Also for the cookies.  
And The Root Beer. The sweet, nectar-of-the-gods root beer.

Flames are pointless, as the author is a flaming retard.

...hold up, that's not what I meant. Uh, let's just start the story.

* * *

"Oh, this shit is **NOT** gonna fly."

Ichigo let off a small sigh as he looked at  
his girlfriend with a look of understanding,  
"That's what I told her. But little miss  
pain-in-my-ass says she needs to be close  
to me in case a hollow shows up."

"Yeah, I just bet she does." Tatsuki  
muttered under her breath.

"I don't see what the problem is here."  
Rukia shrugged," As oversexed as today's  
youth is a man and a woman living  
under the same roof is no big deal.  
At least that's what I've read."

Tatsuki turned to Rukia, "That's only when  
they're old enough to do such things, old hag.  
Not when they're fifteen."

Rukia's eye twitched, "Old... hag? Did you just  
call me an old hag?"

Ichigo blanched as he looked between Rukia's frown  
and Tatsuki's smirk, swearing he could feel a very  
oppressive aura in his room.

"Yeah, I did. You said you were a hundred and fifty right?  
You're practically ancient, mummy dear."

Ichigo gulped and started to slowly make way for  
his bedroom door, '_Oh shit, this does **NOT** bode _  
_well for me_.'

Rukia's eye twitched faster as Tatsuki continued,  
"Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if you did try to  
seduce _**MY**_ Ichigo with that whole 'stay close in  
case a hollow shows up' bs."

Ichigo gulped as he noticed Rukia's face scrunched up even more.  
That Tatsuki didn't notice [or more likely didn't care] did  
nothing for his heart.

"You must've really been hard up to come up with that excuse.  
I can see that, being as old as you are."

Rukia's teeth grounded at that comment, "...You little brat. Where  
the HELL do you get off with saying that to me?!?"

Tatsuki smirked. "Facts are facts, bitch. You're old and scrawny. That  
you've picked on my boyfriend only shows that you're tastes aren't  
completely worthless, however your ideas of staying close are  
embarrassingly childish". Tatsuki laughed.

Ichigo had gulped a third time for luck as he was in mere fingertips reach  
of the doorknob, '_Yessire, definitely time to go. Dontlookback,dontlookback,_  
_doooooontlookback_.'

"Ichigo."

The boy paused and let off a sickly grin as he looked back to the  
center of his bedroom, '_Ah, fuck me sideways_.' "Y-yeah, Tatsuki?"

"Don't. Touch. That. Doorknob."

"W-wh-why not, babe? It's my room, right?" The confident smile  
he tried to put up did not quite reach his face as he turned back  
to them.

Tatsuki turned to Ichigo and gave him a dark smile that caused the  
boy to look like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming  
freight train, " Face up to your own problems like a man, OK?"

Ichigo slumped down to the floor, defeated. He let off a silent prayer to  
God and his mother that the next life would be nice and comfortable,  
"Yes,dear." '_I am so whipped_', he silently bemoaned, '_And not in the _  
_good way._'

Tatsuki then turned back to Rukia, "As for you... If you think for one second I'm  
gonna let you stay here, you're outta yer goddamn mummified mind chick."

Rukia glared up at Tatsuki, "Well then little miss prim and proper, what do  
you suggest we do?"

Tatsuki glared at Rukia before shoving her aside to walk towards Ichigo's room.  
Not sparing her boyfriend a look she opened his door and walked to his closet.

Ichigo blinked, "Tatsuki.... what are you doing?"

Not responding she opened the closet and took note of the bed and contents.  
Her face briefly darkened as her mind registered just how close this hag was  
to her boyfriend.

"...Tatsuki?"

Ichigo's eyes widened as he saw his girlfriend practically rip out the contents  
of the closet.

"_**WHAT ARE YOU DOING**_?!?", Rukia screeched.

"Evicting you," Tatsuki said as if explaining it to a child.

"Not that I'm complaining babe", Ichigo pointedly ignored Rukia's ire now  
being directed at him, "but where's chibi-gami gonna stay at?"

"With me."

Ichigo stared as he watched his closet being gutted. Considering Tatsuki's  
words before elegantly coming up with, "Come again?"

Tatsuki stopped the gutting of Ichigo's closet to stare flatly at her boyfriend,  
"Do you want her in your place?"

"Uhhh... no."

"And there's no way in hell I'm gonna let this old mummy stay in your room any longer."

"**I AM NOT A MUMMY, YOU BRAT**!" Rukia retorted.

Tatsuki ignored her, naturally, "So, if she absolutely **HAS** to stay here, she's gonna stay  
where I can always keep my eye on her 24/7. Understand?"

Ichigo nodded warily. Anything to get back on her good side.

Rukia on the other hand was doing her best to reign in her temper. "And just  
how... exactly do I go along with you on this?"

Tatsuki smirked at the shinigami, "Who said you had a choice in the matter?"  
Tatsuki then twisted the knife further. "You have none of your fancy Chibi-gami  
strength, right? Meaning you're just a regular helpless little girl. Not that I enjoy  
picking on the weak, mind you, but I'll make a very welcome exception for you.  
Don't you feel honored?"

Rukia grumbled under her breath as Tatsuki continued to gut out Ichigo's closet  
of her presence, "...Damned Gigai. Damned expensive Kikonchan. Damn it all."

"This is one of those 'get worse before it gets better scenarios' ain't it?"  
Ichigo asked himself.

"Worse" - "Better", came the two different replies. Tatsuki beat Rukia to the explanation.  
"You get your life back, Berry-tan. I get this scrawny thing who, if she knows what's good  
for her won't cause any problems for me."

"And should a hollow appear?", Rukia challenged Tatsuki's answer.

"Then you better be damn quick at contacting him", Tatsuki smoothly answered,  
taking the last few items out. She dusted off her hands as she finished gutting Ichigo's  
closet and gave Rukia a look of triumph, "Besides, ain't that what Kon's for?"

Rukia frowned even deeper as she had forgotten about that little detail in all the arguing  
she had been doing with Tatsuki. Dammit, defeated in all areas. Rukia then blinked in surprise  
as she felt a poke on her bottom. She slowly turned to find Kon, still in his dog body,  
nose on her bottom, "....What do you think you're doing?"

Kon grinned as sheepishly as a dog could, "Saying Hello?"

As Rukia cracked her knuckles, Kon reflected to himself that this was not as good of an  
idea as he thought.

As Rukia began to knock Kon out of the dead dog's body to Tatsuki's laughter, Ichigo  
sighed to himself, 'I wonder what a normal person's love life is like.'

Sadly, he wouldn't know the answer to that question for a good, long while.

_

* * *

_  
_**Ghostface211 presents.....**_

_**A Bleach Story **_

_**Stranger Than Fiction**_

_**Chapter Five: Free from work, now let´s chill**_

_

* * *

_  
Ichigo sighed as he pocketed Kon's mod soul capsule in his back pocket,  
"Did you **REALLY** need to go that far?"

Rukia turned and glared at Ichigo, causing him to back up slightly as the trio  
made their way down the stairs, "Hey, I'm just sayin' ya went a little far.  
Now I gotta find a new body for this guy."

Tatsuki nodded, "Really, that was very rude of you. All that stuffing and all  
he wanted to say was hello. Probably the most action you've seen in god knows how  
long..."

Rukia glared down Tatsuki in response, "You shut up! I still can't believe you expect  
me to go through with this...."

Tatsuki turned around and glared right back at the shinigami, "You bet your ass you're  
doing this. Like I said, you're outta your mind if you think I'll let you just stay in my  
boyfriend's closet for one day, one hour, one second, one  
millisecond longer than you already have."

"And I still don't see what the problem is?", muttered Rukia.

"The fact that you don't see the problem is all the more reason that you need to  
bounce."

"Hardly. You assume a relationship that doesn't exist."

"I don't care if it exists or not! I'm ending it here and now! So what if you gotta  
run a block or two, that's what phones are for, chibi-gami!"

"If you've spent the time like I have with him you'd know that having that isn't enough.  
Being away will take more time than we can afford, and we lose a lot already!"

Tatsuki walked up to Rukia and loomed down on her face, "Whadda mean 'spending time'?!  
No, don't tell me, cause your ass is out! You don't gotta choice in the matter!"

Rukia stopped and raised an eyebrow at Tatsuki, causing the taller girl's to twitch.  
"Your lover has a habit of needing to be pulled into a situation, often lamenting it  
in spite how decently he has performed."

"What're you getting at?"

"That if I'm not here to pull him along when a job calls he's likely to ignore it or wait  
until the last minute or manage to show up too late".

"So you think that if you're not here, he'll just sit on his ass and let those souls get eaten  
by those hollow things?"

Ichigo frowned, "Could you at least not talk about me like I'm not here?"

"Have I said anything untrue", Rukia asked the ignored shinigami substitute.

Tatsuki then chuckled, "If you honestly think that, then you don't know Ichigo  
as well as you think."

"Having lived along side him for the last few weeks I can say that it may be you how  
doesn't know him as well you think".

Tatsuki blinked, then frowned_** DEEPLY**_. ".... What did you say?"

Rukia looked Tatsuki in the eye. I said, 'having lived along side him for the last few  
weeks I can say that it may be you how doesn't know him as well you think'.

Tatsuki barely contained herself from grinding her teeth in rage, "....I'm sorry....  
My hearing's not a good as it should be. Could you say that.... **_ONE_** more time?!"

Rukia again raised an eyebrow. "I do not understand how you've missed it twice  
now, but fine. I said, 'having lived with him for some time now, watching him  
fight, dragging him to each location, that it is most likely you who doesn't know  
him as well as you think'. Do you get it now?"

**POW!**

Tatsuki nodded as she retreated her fist from Rukia's face, "Yeah, I get it now.  
Thanks for clearing that up."

Ichigo looked down at Rukia's comatose form before looking at his girlfriend  
and frowning, "Babe... did you really need to go that far?"

Tatsuki snorted as she lifted Rukia up and over her shoulder, "Of course I did."

Ichigo sighed as his girlfriend left his home.

The first thing Rukia noticed as consciousness came back to her, was that her jaw was aching  
like crazy. Damn, but could that girl punch. She really needed to work on that temper of hers.  
The second thing she noticed as her eyes opened was that whoever was looking down on her was  
triggering all sorts of warnings for some god-only-knows why reason.

"Are you ok?" the man asked.

She nodded slowly in confirmation, and the man let of a deep sigh of relief, "Oh thank goodness!  
After Tat-chan told me your story, I was so worried I didn't know what to do! But now that you're  
awake I can ask you directly!"

She eyed the man curiously, "Ask me what?"

"How do you want me to mutilate him?!"

Rukia blinked. "Excuse me", she asked uncertainly.

"Your jackass of a father. With this beautiful body, I can torture him in ways that are unsuitable  
for your pure and dainty little mind to comprehend! Don't you worry Ruru-chan! You can stay here  
for as long as you need!"

He then grasped her hands as manly tears began to flow freely from his eyes, "You have the Shuya seal  
of approval! Consider me your new daddy, Ruru-chan!"

"'Ru-ruru chan...'", she repeated, before turning her head to find Tatsuki looking at her, appearing  
as if she were struggling to hide her amusement.

"That's right Ruru-chan!" Shuya nodded enthusiastically before hugging Rukia tightly to his chest, "It's  
all right! Let it all out on daddy's manly chest! I'm here for you Ruru-chan!" Rukia punched Shuya's  
stomach, but the man didn't notice as he continued to hold the shinigami tightly to his bosom, "You  
don't have to hurt no more, my little one! You're safe here. Daddy will always protect you!"

A tap on his shoulder caused Shuya's manly tears to stop flowing slightly and turn to find his wife  
smiling serenely at him. He returned the smile, "Oh, Tomo-chan! Look! We have a new daughter! Isn't  
she precious?"

"She also isn't breathing, dear." Tomoyo noted.

Shuya blinked in surprise before letting go of the hug, "Oh, I'm sorry Ruru-chan! Daddy just doesn't  
know his own strength sometimes!"

Rukia found her self coughing before gasping for breath, overwhelmed.

Tomoyo rubbed Rukia's back as she regained her breath, "Are you ok, Rukia-chan?"

Shuya laughed heartily, "Of course she is, Tomo-chan! She my second daughter! And you know that the  
Arisawa bloodline is a strong one!" He then turned to Tatsuki, a serious look on her face, "Tat-chan.  
You're a big sister now. I'm counting on you to look after your little Ruru-chan!"

Tatsuki's eye twitched briefly. "Don't worry daddy, Tat-chan will take *real* good care of Ruru-chan".

He smiled and gave his daughter a thumb's up, That's my girl. Make your daddy proud and develop that  
sisterly bond!" He stood up and walked to his personal weight room, "I'll leave you girls alone so  
you can have your girl talk. Enjoy!"

Rukia eyed Shuya oddly as he left the room. She sighed and turned to Tatsuki, "Your father is a very  
strange man."

Tatsuki sighed, "Don't remind me, shorty."

Tomoyo sighed, "Well, I'm going to get dinner ready girls. And Rukia-chan, despite how my husband came off,  
I do agree that you're welcome to stay here for as long as you need to."

Rukia blinked at her as Tomoyo left the room. Once the door was shut she turned to Tatsuki. "Stay"?

She gave Rukia a half lidded stare and folded her arms at the question, "What part of 'you're not staying in  
my boyfriend's closet' did you miss chibi-gami?"

"I thought I explained why I needed to be close", she then paused before rubbing her jaw. "I see that you  
have again assumed my reasons for doing so where of a different sort".

She snorted in response, "Don't care. It ain't proper and it ain't right So you'd best learn how to use a  
phone, shrimp or learn how to get your powers back really freaking' fast if you wanna be outta here ASAP. Until  
that happens, however, your ass is staying here. And I don't care how you feel 'bout that. That's just the  
way it is."

She smirked darkly at Rukia, "So you'd best learn to like it, Little sister."

Rukia snorted, "You're being ridiculous."

Tatsuki snorted in response, "And you're being stubborn."

"I am not being stubborn. I am concerned for the welfare of this town if it's only protector isn't able or  
willing to take care of the situation unless I have to drag him there".

She shrugged, "I dunno about able, but if you don't think Ichigo's all that willing... then maybe it wan't  
the job, but the boss."

She shot an eyebrow up at that, "What's that supposed to mean?"

She just smirked again in response, "Why don't you think about it over dinner? You got plenty of time considering  
that you'll be here for a while."

Rukia paused. "How long have I been here?"

"Hmmm... about an hour and a half."

Rukia pulled out her cellphone and checked for messages. Finding none she sighed in relief before putting it away.

Tatsuki eyed the device curiously, "Is That how you know about those hollow things attacking?"

Rukia nodded, "Yes, that's right."

"Can you call Ichigo with that?"

"Call?"

"Yeah. Y'know call him on the hone, let him know a hollow's attacking?"

She blinked, "Phone?"

"You don't know what a phone is?"

Rukia's blank look was her only response. Tatsuki sighed and held her hand out, "Let me see that."  
Rukia gave Tatsuki and odd look before complying. Tatsuki looked at the device for a moment before  
dialing a few numbers into the device and placing it to her ears.

-_Hello?_-

"Hey, babe."

-_Tatsuki? Did you get a new phone or something? You didn't show up on the caller I.D._-

"Something like that. Just wanted to see if this worked or not. I'll talk to ya later, ok. Dinner's almost  
ready over here."

-_Alright then. Later,babe._-

Tatsuki hung up and smirked at the shinigami, "Well what do you know, it is a phone. So you can call his ass  
when a hollow shows up. No need to hole up in his closet." She tossed it back to Rukia. She caught it as  
Tatsuki opened up the door to her room, "Dinner's almost ready. Can't stay there forever shorty."

Rukia blinked for a moment before frowning in thought, This would be trickier than she thought.

"Man, I'm stuffed! Mama's cooking's always good to knock me out!"

Rukia nodded as Tatsuki patted her full belly, "Yes. Your mother's  
cooking is quite good."

Tatsuki simply smiled in satisfaction, "See, living here ain't so  
bad is it?"

Rukia frowned slightly at that, "I still don't understand."

Tatsuki's smile faded and was replaced with a neutral look, "What's  
there not to understand?"

"Why you're so insistent on me not staying with Ichigo. To ensure  
he's doing his duty."

Tatsuki sighed in annoyance, "You're still harping on about that..."

"But I've told you I have not been doing anything to intrude on him.  
I do not understand you refusal to accept this", she stated.

"Let's just say I'm making sure of it and drop if for the night, all right?"

Rukia sighed, "Alright." She frowned softly as another question popped into  
her mind, "Why did you hit me?"

Tatsuki blinked, "Humm?"

"Earlier tonight. Before you took me here. Why did you hit me?"

"You haven't figured it out yet?"

Rukia shook her head in the negative. Causing Tatsuki to pinch the bridge of  
her nose in frustration, "Because of what you said."

"You mean about Ichigo?"

"Duh. Why else would I hit you?"

Rukia sighed softly, "Perhaps my words were not as... tactful as they could've  
been."

"No shit Sherlock."

"I do stand by what I said though", Rukia remarked. "It has trying to get him  
to do this job".

"Even so, you didn't have to say it like that."

Rukia nodded, "I apologize."

"Besides, Ichigo's probably giving you a hard time 'cause you forced it on him.  
Not 'cause he doesn't want to help you."

She gave Tatsuki an odd look, "He could have fooled me at times".

She laughed, "Yeah, I can imagine. He can be a jerk sometimes, but his heart's  
in the right place."

Rukia sighed, "I just wish he understood that it's important and not give me  
such a hard time about it. I practically had to drag him to show him why it  
was."

"What else can you tell me about this shinigami stuff?" Tatsuki asked.

Rukia blinked, "Why do you want to know?"

Tatsuki shrugged, "Hell, if my boyfriend's gotta do you job for ya, I might as  
well know more about it."

Rukia hummed, "I don't know how much I can say..."

Before Tatsuki could respond, someone knocked on her door, "Who is it?"

"Oh daughters, It's daddy! I've something to give Ruru-chan before bedtime!"

Rukia's eyebrow twitched slightly at the nickname.

Tatsuki snickered a it before responding, "Come in, dad."

The door opened and Shuya stepped into his daughter's room, giving a goofy grin  
at Rukia. "Ruru-chan."

Rukia forced a smile as Tatsuki restrained her laughter, "Y-yes, Arisawa-san?"

"Daddy."

"Eh", Rukia peeped.

Shuya's eyes watered slightly, "I thought I told you to call me daddy,  
Ruru-chan!"

Rukia's wide eyes twitched, "Dah-dad-ee", she said as best she could.

Tatsuki was close to turning blue as she tried to contain her laughter.

Shuya's manly tears flowed freely from his eyes once more as he embraced  
Rukia, "RURU-CHAAAAAN!!"

Rukia weased as Shuya's loving embrace threatened her life once more, "can't...  
breath...," she whispered.

Tatsuki couldn't contain it anymore. She laughed long and loud at the display.

Shuya nodded at his daughter's laughter, "Yes, yes daughter. This is a joyous  
occasion! Let you joy sing throughout your new home!"

"Shuya."

"To-Tomo-chan!", Shuya shrieked, surprised.

Tomoyo smiled serenely at her husband, "As happy as this occasion is, it'll turn  
into a tragedy if you don't let her go."

Shuya blinked and looked to find Rukia unconscious in his arms, "...Ruru-chan!  
Ruru-chan speak to daddy!!"

Tomoyo put a comforting hand on Shuya's shoulder, "I think it's best if we let  
her sleep for the night, honey."

Shuya sniffled a bit, as he pulled out Rukia's gift from his shirt. It was a  
pair of Tatsuki's pajamas she had long outgrown, but would fit Rukia's small  
frame. They were rather plain save for the back. Where it had rhinestones that  
spelled RURU-CHAN in English. "But.. but what bout her present, Tomo-chan?"

"She can receive it in the morning. Unlesss you want to dress her up in it, dear?"

Shuya looked aghast at the thought, "And take my Ruru-chan's purity?! Never!!"

"I'll do it!!" Tatsuki cried out.

Shuya blinked at his eldest daughter, "You, Tat-chan?"

Tatsuki nodded, "It would be my pleasure." she smirked.

Shuya gave her a thumb's-up, "That's my baby girl! We'll leave you two alone.  
C'mon hon." He motioned to Tomoyo, who nodded as he left the room. Tomoyo  
kissed her daughter's forehead, "Goodnight, Tatsuki-chan."

"Night mama," she responded as Tomoyo walked to the door. She gave Rukia a  
rather odd look before she closed the door behind her. Tatsuki looked at the  
comatose form of Rukia and smirked.

"Pleasant dreams, chibi-gami."

Night left. Mourning came. Same as it always did and always would. Rukia  
awoke, yawning and scratching her stomach. Same as she always did. She  
looked to her side and frowned slightly, finding Tatsuki snoring softly.  
Her mind recalled yesterdays previous events, wondering how the girl could  
act in such an impulsive manner. Letting jealousy cloud her better judgment.

"This world is very strange." she muttered to herself.

She stretched slightly, getting the kinks out of her body from the long sleep.  
As she finished, her eyes caught sight of her clothes atop of Tatsuki's dresser.

'_Hmm? My clothes?_' she thought to herself as she finally looked down at her  
outfit.

She urked in surprise as she noticed her garments had changed from what she was  
wearing the night before. Also...she could feel the air on the back of her neck,  
but that shouldn't be with her hair in the way. She reached up and to her  
astonishment felt her neck. '_What the hell is going on_', she questioned mentally.

Her frown deepened as she got out of the bed, careful not to disturb Tatsuki  
from her slumber. '_Did she do this?_' She thought to herself, '_But why? If _  
_this is vengeance, it's too petty. It doesn't make sense._'

Her eyes glanced to a mirror in the girls room and she stopped. Taking a good  
look at herself. She was wearing a nightie that could have easily doubled as a  
sundress. It was white with pink flowers upon it. Her hair, however, was  
rather jarring. It was done up in Chinese hair braids on both sides of her head.  
Easily explaining the wind she felt on her neck.

'_This will **NOT** do_,' she thought as she stormed back to Tatsuki's bed. She glared  
at the sleeping martial artist. "Wake up."

"Hn?", was all she got out of the bed's occupant who promptly rolled over and  
curled up further into the blanket.

Rukia's frown deepened as she began to attempt to shake the girl awake.  
"Wake Up!"

"Ichigo..." she mummer-ed deliriously, "But... but I'm not sure I'm ready  
for that..."

Rukia blushed slightly at that, "Get up! Now!"

Tatsuki groaned as she awoken, "Blug... what time is it?"

Rukia pointed at her head, "Time for you to explain this! What's the big  
idea? Some petty jealousy?"

Tatsuki opened her eyes took one look at Rukia before she shrugged, "Oh...  
momma got to you. Whoop-de-freaking-do." She yawned, "Wake me when  
breakfast is ready."

Rukia blinked and played what she said in her head again. "Can you say  
that again? What do you mean by, 'momma got to you'?

Tatsuki snored in response, already out of it.

Rukia's eyes narrowed at the girl, "Fine. If you want to be like that..."  
She left the girl's room, frowning as she closed the door. Perhaps going  
to the source would prove fruitful in this one instance.

"Ah, Ruru-chan! Good Mourning!"

Rukia blinked, turning the the cheerful voice, "Good mourning, Arisawa-san."

Shuya pouted, causing Rukia to sigh dejectedly. "Good mourning, daddy," she  
said in a monotone voice.

Shuya nodded and hugged himself, "Much better my adorable baby girl!"

Rukia laughed uncomfortably at that, "Yes well... 'daddy'," she ignored the  
pleasant shudder that Shuya had, "Can you explain this?" she asked. Pointing  
to her head and pajamas respectively.

Shuya blinked before he nodded to himself, "Ah... you like my pajamas?"

"You.... made these?"

The Arisawa patriarch nodded, "I admit it's not up to my usual standards, but  
I don't think I did that bad of a job considering how short notice your arrival  
was, dear."

Rukia stared at the man, her mind in slight shock at how tacky he was.

"Indeed, I am amazing. A gorgeous body and a fantastic seamstress. Or is is  
streamster? Well, no matter," He placed a gentle shoulder on Rukia's shoulder,  
"It's the least daddy could do for his precious baby daughter!"

"Y....yes...." Rukia muttered, struggling not to criticize her host, "Still....  
daddy... that doesn't explain my hair."

Shuya blinked, "Oh, that. It looks like mommy has taken to you as well."

Rukia blinked. "Mo-mommy?", she questioned woodenly.

Shuya grinned, "Yes... My Tomo-chan does have a habit of trying to make things  
she deems cute and making them cuter.. It's her way of saying she accepts you  
as her own!"

Rukia's eye twitched and her head twisted to look at her roommate.

Tatsuki continued to snore, oblivious to the goings on in her room.

"Hehehe... she tries her best with Tat-chan, but it's become an uphill struggle  
ever since...._**The Crybaby**_ has been attempting his thievery" He growled out that  
last portion.

Rukia blinked and turned back to Shuya, "_**The Crybaby**_?" she asked.

Shuya nodded, "That filthy, weakling, thieving crybaby boy who has been trying  
to steal my precious Tat-chan from me... and my Tomo-chan as well! As if to  
rub salt into my wounds!!" He turned To Rukia, grasping her shoulders as he  
looked close to tears, "You won't let that crybaby steal you away from daddy  
to, will you?"

"Are you..", she paused at his watery eyes, shell-shocked at everything that  
was happening, "...talking about Ichigo", she managed to finish.

Shuya blinked, "You... you have met the crybaby? He hasn't entrapped you in  
his deceitful web of seduction has he?!?"

'_Se-seduction?!_', she thought, her face twisting at the thought.

Shuya nodded, "Yes... though a weakling and a crybaby, he is full of pheromones  
that seem to trip women up to fall for his weaklingness!" He grasped her  
shoulders, "You haven't fallen for his wild seduction pheromones have you?!?"

"N-no", she weakly replied.

His eyes then shone with determination, taking Rukia once more by surprise, "Good,  
Ruru-chan! You must be strong! I'll need your help to free your mommy and sister  
from the crybaby's grasp!" He grasped her shoulders, "Come with me!"

"Hah?"

"We're going to the gym!" He cried, pointing bravely down the hall, "We must make  
you as strong as daddy in order for you to help daddy defeat the crybaby!"

"Wha-what?"

He nodded, "YES! It's the perfect plan! We'll bond in our shared building of  
strength and plotting the end of the Crybaby menace!" He scooped Rukia in one  
arm, clenching his fist, "Just trust Daddy, Ruru-chan! And LET'S GOOOOOOO!"

Before Rukia could reply Shuya crashed into the floor. Looking to the side, she  
saw Tatsuki sitting up in bed, her arm outstretched, "Dammit, ol' man... If you  
gotta trash my boyfriend can you do it quieter? I'm tryin' ta sleep." Tatsuki  
grumbled. Scratching her head irritably.

Shuya groaned as Rukia wiggled free from his grasp.

"Dammit," Tatsuki groaned, "Now I'm awake." Sh yawned as she shucked the covers  
off her frame, scratching her back, "Guess I'll make breakfast."

Rukia eyed Tatsuki oddly as she walked pass her father, who was still down from  
her attack. She then looked down at the unconscious Arisawa patriarch and back  
to where Tatsuki had been.

'_...How in the world did she come from... him?_' she wondered.

No answer would be forthcoming anytime soon.

_The next day..._

"Gotta admit, I'm surprised to see you're still in one piece chibi-gami."

Rukia frowned, shoving her hands into her pockets as the gathered trio of Ichigo,  
Tatsuki, and herself marched to school. He rose an eyebrow towards his girlfriend,  
"I'm even more surprised that you girls actually managed to room together for one whole  
day without you tryin' to kill her, babe. I mean, what happened to all that rage-ahol  
you had goin' on for the past few weeks?"

Tatsuki smirked, "Seeing the shrimp over here deal with her new 'daddy' is almost enough  
to make up for it."

Ichigo blinked and looked at Rukia with a raised eyebrow. Rukia in turn leveled a hard  
stare at Ichigo, "Don't.... just.... don't."

Ichigo shrugged as he put two and two together, "Ah, Ol' man Arisawa-san... guess he liked  
you."

"You have no idea...." Rukia muttered, "How do you deal with him on a regular basis?  
I'm worn out and It's been one day."

The substitute shinigami simply shrugged again in response, "You get used to him after having  
him in most of your life."

"So you're saying I'm going to end up like you?", Rukia mentioned, deadpan.

"At this rate it'll be an improvement." Ichigo responded equally deadpan.

Tatsuki snickered at them, causing both of them to look at her.

"Something funny babe?" Ichigo asked.

"Just the thought", she chortled again, "of miss prissy-pants here turning out like you".

Rukia's eyebrow twitched, "Well... I certainly wouldn't want to be known as a womanizer."

The mention of what had happened on Saturday caused Ichigo to pale. He clutched his head and  
groaned, "Oh man... I almost forgot what that horny mod did in my body! And that everyone thinks it me!!"

Tatsuki nodded in understanding, "That's true... you should be a bloody spec for kissing  
Orihime in front of me, y'know."

Ichigo groaned. "Don't remind me", he said, palming his face and rubbing his temple with  
his fingers.

Rukia sighed, "Don't worry about it."

Ichigo looked up at Rukia, frowning slightly, "....Why?" he asked warily.

"It's... been taken care of most likely."

Ichigo's frown deepened into his trademark scowl, "How do you know that?"

Tatsuki rose an eyebrow at the turn the conversation was going, but remained silent.

"I thought we agreed on no more of 'those'."

"Ichigo...what are you two talking about?"

Ichigo blanched, quickly reminded that a person on the reviving end of many of those memory  
wipes was within earshot.

She crossed her arms over her breasts as she looked upon the duo. Her face developing her  
own sight frown, "Does this have to do with peoples memories?"

He sighed, 'Might as well get the ass whooping over with now', "Yes. Yes it does."

Rukia sighed, "I know what you said Ichigo, but let me ask you this. Do **YOU** want your  
classmates to remember what that Mod Soul did in your body? Or how Tatsuki reacted?"

Ichigo groaned as he developed a headache just remembering the mess that had gone down,  
"No, but dammit..."

"Just chalk it up to a necessary evil. Besides, if you do your job right it won't be an  
issue again, will it?"

The substitute shinigami just glared slightly at his 'supervisor', "Don't mean I gotta like  
it chibi-gami."

"Sometimes we have to do things we don't like for the greater good Ichigo. At the very  
least your reputation will be salvaged."

Ichigo was about to retort when Tatsuki made her presence known once more by grabbing Ichigo  
into a headlock. The boy let off a a startled cry as his girlfriend began tightening her grip  
around his neck, "Y'know Ichigo... that reminds me. I haven't exactly gotten to your punishment  
for lying all this time to me."

"Yeah about that..." the boy began, "I think I could apologize better if ya let me breath."

She noggied him in response.

"Ow,ow,ow." Ichigo responded as Tatsuki really got into the noggie.

"You're not getting outta this one that easy babe," Tatsuki began. "You messed up big time  
and you know that you gotta pay for it."

"Sorry! Ow. Sorry! Ow. How can I make it up to ya?! Ow."

Ichigo was surprised when Tatsuki released her hold on him. He turned to look back at her,  
finding her giving him an appraising look. "You wanna know?"

Her boyfriend nodded, "Yes. Without the noggies." Girl could noggie coal into diamonds.

"It's much more simple than you think. Of course," She smirked as he paused. Ichigo hated  
that smirk that was on her face. Nothing good ever came out of Tatsuki having that look on  
her face, "You could refuse, but if you do that I can guarantee you that you'll be speaking  
like Orihime's big sister for a month."

Ichigo blanched and covered his manly zone protectively, "GAH!! You don't have'ta go there  
woman!! I'll do it! What ever you want, I'll do it!!"

Tatsuki smiled, "Good boy. Like I said, it's simple really. Just don't coddle me like that  
ever again. Tell me when you going out to fight a Hollow, ok? You think you can do that, babe?"

Ichigo nodded, "Done deal. So do you forgive me?"

Tatsuki nodded and kissed his cheek, causing the substitute shinigami's cheeks to redden  
slightly, "Yes you are forgiven Kurosaki Ichigo."

He sighed in relief, "Thank you."

"But you're still in the doghouse."

"Dammit!"

She smirked as she took Ichigo's hand in hers and dragged him off to class, "Don't worry, you  
got plenty of time to make it up to me."

Ichigo sighed dramatically, "Yes dear."

"That's the spirit."

Rukia was silent throughout the exchange, but was a bit surprised at how quick the girl was to  
forgive her lover over these events. Then again, she supposed it might have been natural for  
the girl to forgive and forget as quickly as she did. She did frown as she felt a familiar sense  
of foreboding at the girl's ultimatum. As if involving this girl in these matters would lead to  
the start of an even bigger mess than before.

"I can't wait to get back to Soul Society where things make sense," she muttered to herself.  
Following the couple to school.

And so began the start of another ordinary day in Katakura Town.

End Ch. 5


End file.
